Context :
Why
no murder charge on civic body chief in Rajkot gaming zone fire case: HC ..
TOI …07 June 2024
Extract :
Gujarat HC questions Rajkot authorities' inaction before TRP Game Zone
fire. Should civic commissioner be suspended for negligence in allowing illegal
operation? PIL on 27 deaths in fire heard by Justice Biren Vaishnav and Justice
Devan Desai.
Gujarat HC on Thursday took serious recognition of the inertia of the Rajkot municipal authorities before the gruesome fire incident at TRP Game Zone, which killed
27 people, asking :
Ø why
murder charges ought not to be invoked against the civic commissioner and
Ø why he hasn't
been suspended for letting TRB Game Zone operate illegally,
particularly when a similar fire
had broken out there last year too.
While hearing a suo motu PIL on the 27 deaths in the fire, the bench of
Justice Biren Vaishnav and Justice Devan Desai was apprised of replies filed by
the Rajkot municipal commissioners, chief fire officer and home department.
The judge added that the authorities stayed
inactive after issuing a demolition order in Nov 2023.
My Take :
Dear Justice Biren Vaishnav and Justice Devan Desai :
The reason why murder charges have not been invoked is rather simple
That reason is :
Despite my following 5 YEAR old e-mail to Shri Modiji and his Cabinet
Colleagues, the government has failed to enact the SERVICES
LIABILITY ACT :
Ø Needed
: a Service Liability Act .. ……………..12 June
2019
Extract :
Many countries have Product Liability Acts under which , product
manufacturers are held responsible / accountable for any hurt / damage caused
to the users of their products ( even years later )
Especially in USA , this Act is very stringent and the liability
extends even to the suppliers who might have supplied a defective component /
sub-assembly which went into the final product
I am not aware of any such Act in India ; nor have heard of any
instance where ( say , for example ) a car manufacturer is dragged to court for
a defective brake which caused deaths due to failure to perform
But what we , in India , need rather badly right now , is a
Service Liability Act
There are only a few “ products “ that Indian Government
manufactures and sells to its citizens ( through PSUs ) but throughout the day,
government servants / employees , deliver a host of SERVICES to the citizens –
services that they are required to deliver legally / constitutionally or in an
implied manner
For a timely delivery of such services , some states have
introduced “ Delivery of Services Act “
They might have even prescribed some “ penalty / punishment “
for “ late or no “ delivery
But such instances are rare . Following is an example
:
For not curbing pollution, Delhi civic chiefs may face
prosecution.
But for the strict direction of the Supreme Court , nothing
would have happened and the persons responsible would have continued to ignore
the sufferings of millions Delhi-ites !
Just to emphasize my point , do you think any government servant
would go to jail for the following ? :
Mumbai: One dead as SRA high-rise
building in Mahalaxmi catches fire
Mithi neglected, 2005-like floods ‘inevitable’, state
report tells SC
Fire safety norms
in Mumbai: In 3 years, only 36 housing societies prosecuted for non-compliance
QMumbai: City’s Air as Bad as Delhi’s; Fire in Aarey
Nearly 56% of bulk waste generators
flout BMC rule
Air pollution: NGT slaps Rs 25 crore
fine on Delhi govt
No closure for victims of Bhopal gas
tragedy
Allocate as many courts as needed, speed
up netas’ criminal trials ; SC
Potholes killed 3,597 across India in
2017, terror 803
Not a single day passes without newspapers reporting dozens of
such cases of ( what I like to call ) :
CRIMES OF OMISSIONS [ as against “ Crimes of Commissions “ ]
Following owe their existence to such “ Crimes of Omissions “ :
Millions of Indians die PREMATURE DEATH every
year , due to :
> Water and Air Pollution
> Dowry ( Bride burning )
> Child Labour
> Occupational Hazards ( Chemical / Coal / Cement
industries )
> Miscarriage / Abortions / Pregnancy deaths
> Smoking / Tobacco chewing
> Junk Food / Adulterated Food
> Daru ( liquor ) laced with ethyl alcohol
> Fake Medicines............................etc
And who are responsible for keeping 28.7 Crores of Indians
illiterate ( 37 % of World's illiterate ) , 66 years after independence ?
Is that because ,
> " CRIMES OF OMISSIONS "
are taken for granted ?
> Deaths due to such Acts are treated as "
NATURAL " ( not preventable ) ?
> Politicians don't think talking about these ,
will get votes ?
> Media could not care less ! TRP is
all that matters for getting Ad revenue
> Cursing others is easier than persevering
for the possible ?
==================================
To hold every Public Servant “ accountable “ for causing hurt / damage to any
citizen , what we urgently need is a “ Service Liability Act ( Govt
Employees ) 2019 “ , which clearly spells out :
# Extent of hurt / damage
Minor
injuries / Temporary-permanent Disabilities
/ Deaths
# Coverage
Individual
Citizen / Community / Entire Country
# Time Frame
Short
term / Medium Term / Long Term
# Economic Impact on the
Sufferers
Mild ( loss of money ) / Medium (
loss of assets ) / Severe ( loss of earning capacity )
# Cause
· Negligence ( abdication of
responsibility ) / Indecisions on part of a Public Servant
· # Poor
but honest decisions
· Mala-fide decisions ( with pecuniary
gains for decision taker )
Here is my Conceptual Frame Work for an Online
Rating Form :
=========================================================
SLAM : Service Liability
Assessment Matrix
(
an online form / Mobile App , for rating by citizens )
=========================================================
Dear Citizen :
Following news just got reported in Media . Please rate it by
appropriate selection :
Metal staircase with live wires electrocuted 2
boys
=========================================================
|
Assessment
Parameter |
Weightage |
Most
(5) |
Certain
(4) |
Possible(3
) |
Negligible(2) |
Least
( 1 ) |
|
Extent of
Hurt |
20 % |
|||||
|
Coverage |
30 % |
|||||
|
Time Frame |
10 % |
|||||
|
Economic
Impact |
30 % |
|||||
|
Perception (
Most likely reason for mishap ) |
10 % |
TOTAL :
{ Call it “ AQ = Anger Quotient
“ or “ WS = Wrath Score “ }
=========================================================
Let the Service
Liability Act ( Proposed ) , prescribe various levels of
punishments ( for Govt Employee/s , determined responsible for the root-cause of this mishap )
A certain time period may be prescribed for the citizens to fill
up the form for each mishap
If , my proposal sounds too REVOLUTIONARY / RADICAL ( even for our bold and decisive, PM ), then , to begin with, some NGO (
eg : ADR ? ) may consider implementing this on its own , to create awareness
and to educate the public in airing their opinion / feedback , on what lapses
they see around them , everyday
========================================================
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