[Morbi Bridge collapse] Gujarat High Court orders Nagar Palika to produce copy of approval for renewed agreement with contractor

The Gujarat High Court today asked Morbi Nagar Palika (MNP) to place on record its General Board approval of the renewed agreement, by which the civic body had decided to hand over the operation of Julto Pul in Morbi to a private contractor for a period of 15 years..A division bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri noted that on March 8 this year, when the agreement between the contractor and the MNP was renewed, its chief officer had clarified that the agreement would be executed subject to its approval accorded by the General Board of the civic body."However, the copy of the approval granted by the General Board is neither forthcoming nor the copy of the same is placed on record. Hence, we hereby direct the Morbi Municipality to place on record the copy of the approval granted by its General Board to the agreement," the bench ordered.It also directed the present chief officer of MNP to be personally present before the Court on the next date of hearing on November 24..Further, the bench noted from the MNP's affidavit that the contractor had on December 29, 2021 written to the chief officer informing him about the 'critical condition' of the suspension bridge. It also noted that the bridge was closed down from March 7, 2022 till October 25."This would mean that despite the contractor intimating the MNP about the critical condition of the suspension bridge, it continued to be open for public use till March 7. Hence, the MNP in its fresh affidavit should disclose as to how the contractor was permitted to use the bridge between this period," the bench observed."The reasons for allowing the contractor to use the bridge despite there being no approval for utilisation shall also be indicated in the said affidavit," the Court added.The bench also sought to know why the contractor threw open the bridge on October 25, without any prior sanction or approval from the MNP..The bench was hearing a suo motu case initiated by it after the tragic collapse of a suspension bridge called Julto Pul in Morbi, Gujarat on October 30 resulting in 135 casualties. .The MNP submitted its affidavit today through Senior Advocate Devang Vyas in the second session of the proceedings before the bench.In the morning session, the bench had pulled up the civic body for seeking time till November 24 to file its affidavit. The bench had asked the MNP to either file its affidavit by evening or pay hefty costs..Notably, the bench had yesterday sought to know from the Gujarat government as to why the private contractor allowed to operate the bridge and earn revenue despite his previous agreement expiring way back in 2017.The bench had also posed many questions to the State regarding the lapses on its part.