Morbi bridge collapse: SC to hear plea on Nov 14 for judicial probe

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on November 14 a PIL seeking direction to appoint a judicial commission under the supervision of the retired top court judge to initiate a probe on the Morbi Bridge collapse incident.

A bench of Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi posted the matter for hearing on November 14 after the advocate who filed the petition mentioned it for urgent hearing.

"You are very quick. What are your prayers," the CJI asked.

To this Advocate Vishal Tiwari who filed the plea replied, "I am seeking a judicial enquiry commission".

The plea filed by the lawyer sought directions to the State governments to form a committee to survey and conduct an assessment risk of old and risky monuments and bridges to ensure environmental viability and safety.

It further sought directions for permanent disaster probe teams in the states who would promptly attend to such tragedies.

"Direct the State governments to constitute in their respective States a construction incident investigation department so that the fast and prompt investigation could be done whenever such incidents occur and such department shall also have duty to assess and enquire about the quality and safety of any public construction taking place," the plea said.

Over 130 people died and about 100 were injured due to the collapse of the suspension bridge over the Morbi Macchu river on Sunday.

As per the reports, the bridge was closed for about 8 months for maintenance and the repair work was assigned to a private agency.

The Gujarat Police have filed a First Information Report under IPC sections 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) in the bridge collapse tragedy.

The Gujarat government has also constituted a five-member committee to probe the bridge collapse incident.