HC notices to government in PIL plea over Sigachi blast

Telangana High Court on Thursday issued notices to the State government and heads of different departments like Labour, Home, Industry along with the management of Sigachi Industries in a PIL petition seeking direction to constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe the blast in Sigachi Industrial unit at Banoor and pay full and final compensation to the victims’ families.

A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Gouse Meera Mohiuddin directed the respondents, including Chief Secretary, Special Home Secretary, Pollution Control Board, Sangareddy Collector and Sigachi management, to file detailed counter affidavits by August 27. The PIL petition was filed by septuagenarian retired scientist Kalapala Babu Rao seeking different reliefs including release of the Report of the High Powered Committee created on June 30 to fix accountability and culpability of the company.

The petitioner wanted the HC to instruct different government wings to identify the danger posed by industrial dust accumulation, absence of hazard assessment system and align India’s safety protocols with global standards like NFPA 652. The petitioner’s counsel Vasudha Nagaraj said the government should take responsibility for payment of one crore rupees compensation to families of all the 54 persons who died in the fire accident on Sigachi factory triggered by a blast. The victims included eight missing workers of the factory.

The CJ, seeking responses of the counsels for the State, said the government should not take the PIL plea as adversarial litigation. The State should make its best efforts to assist the families of the victims, he said. Directing the respondents to file comprehensive counter affidavits responding to different points raised by the petitioner, the bench noted that passage of time should not diminish the tragedy or be allowed to be forgotten.

The bench sought to know the details of the First Information Report, the different sections of law invoked in the case and the progress of the investigation. The bench also asked the Government Pleader for Home if any arrests were made in the case. The GP replied that no person was arrested so far. The bench wanted the respondents to furnish precise details like how many workers were present at the site when the fire accident was reported, what statutes were invoked to make the company liable, the categories of workers and the compensation amounts paid in the counter affidavits.

The Additional Advocate General T. Rajanikanth Reddy informed the bench that all the issues raised in the PIL petition were being delved into and actions were initiated. He sought four weeks of time to file counter affidavits, stating that the authorities were awaiting reports of the High Level Committee and Expert Committee on the incident.