New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked the Gujarat High Court to time-to-time monitor the probe and other aspects related to the Morbi bridge collapse incident that claimed over 140 lives. The Public Interest Litigation filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari was heard by a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli. The plea claims that the accident depicted negligence and utter failure of the authorities, the report added.
Bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said that as a division bench headed by the Gujarat High Court Chief Justice has already taken a suo motu note of the incident and has passed several orders, it will not hear the petitions as of now.
It, however, permitted a PIL petitioner and another litigant, who lost his two relatives in the incident, to move the high court with their pleas seeking an independent probe and award of dignified compensation to those who lost their family members.
The top court also said that the petitioners may approach it later.
The century-old suspension footbridge over the Machchu river at Morbi, 300 kilometres from the state capital Gandhinagar, snapped at around 6:30 pm on October 30 when it was crammed with people. The bridge had reopened after extensive repairs and renovation. The British-era bridge collapse took over 140 lives including 47 children.
