Gujarat High Court takes suo motu cognizance of Vadodara Boat Tragedy, seeks report from State

The Gujarat High Court on January 19 took suo motu cognizance of the January 18 incident wherein at least 12 students and 2 teachers died after a boat carrying around 34 persons capsized in the Harni lake in Vadodara city [Re: 12 students and 2 teachers drown in Harni lake]. .A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee took suo motu cognizance of the incident and called for a report from the State's Home Department on the action taken with regard to the incident. "This whole incident has shocked the conscious of the public in general. We call upon the Secretary, Home Department of the State to submit an action taken report in the matter along with an affidavit of the Home Department, by the next date fixed. List the matter on January 29," the bench said in its order. .The incident was brought to the court's notice by Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association (GHCAA) President Brijesh Trivedi who submitted some news articles regarding the incident on January 19. The bench examined the news articles and went on to observe that it was a "tragic incident.""This is not only a shocking but one of the most tragic incidents. Any recklessness cannot be tolerated," Chief Justice Agarwal orally observed. Such kind of incidents can be curbed easily by adhering to safety norms prescribed in law, the Chief Justice said. She also recounted an incident wherein during one of her college trips to a lake, her junior had drowned."He was a bright child and also the only child to his parents. He died there in the lake. We couldn't sleep the whole night. This is a tragic incident," CJ Agarwal told Trivedi. During the hearing on January 19, a government counsel present in the court informed the bench that the boat overturned as it was carrying more persons than its capacity. To this, the CJ said, "This isn't an excuse. If you do not have boats don't let people in. It is a simple solution. We will look into this issue.".[Read Order]