The Madras High Court on Monday wondered whether a retired Judge, who already had several tasks, would find time to conduct an enquiry into the collapse of a multi-storeyed building in Moulivakkam on June 28.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice S. K. Kaul and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, made the observation when a public interest litigation petition by DMK MLA M.K. Stalin came up for hearing. The petition sought a CBI probe into the building collapse.
The petitioner said there was an exercise to cover up ‘illegalities and irregularities’ in granting relaxation of planning/development rules.
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He listed the ‘major violations’ in giving planning permission and during construction of the building. The government had rushed through without any probe.
Advocate-general A. L. Somayaji said retired Judge Justice R. Regupathi had been appointed to head the inquiry commission to go into the circumstances that led to the building collapse.
In the order, the Bench said the retired Judge was already the President of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC).
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He was heading another inquiry commission (relating to the new Secretariat building complex) and was also the Chairman of the State Advisory Board under the Goondas Act.
A moot question was whether the retired Judge would be able to find time to hold an exclusive inquiry and that too at the cost of judicial work at SCDRC.