The Gujarat High Court, on Thursday, dismissed a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the tragic Morbi bridge collapse of 2022 that claimed 135 lives. The decision was rendered by a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi, stating that the court cannot intervene in the ongoing investigation’s validity.
The plea, part of a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) initiated after the incident on October 30, 2022, was pushed forward by relatives of the deceased who argued for a reinvestigation by the CBI. They criticized the Gujarat Police’s handling of the case, notably for not charging any civic officials despite their alleged involvement highlighted by a Special Investigation Team.
During the proceedings, Advocate Rahul Sharma, representing the victims, requested that murder charges be added to the primary FIR. In contrast, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi emphasized that a chargesheet had been filed last year, and relevant disciplinary inquiries against implicated municipal officers were underway.
Chief Justice Agarwal pointed out that the court’s role in the PIL was limited to overseeing compensation and rehabilitation and not to reassess the investigation or chargesheet. She remarked that any concerns regarding the investigation should be directed to the appropriate sessions court handling the criminal case.
The court’s ruling emphasized that the district collector, implicated by the victims for his presence in contract discussions with the Oreva Group responsible for the bridge’s maintenance, was not a signatory to the contract. The application for a CBI investigation was thus termed “misconceived” by the Chief Justice, who clarified that the court’s scope in this PIL did not extend to the details of the criminal investigation.
