Rajkot game zone fire: Court rejects discharge pleas of 7 accused

Rajkot: A court in Gujarat’s Rajkot city on Monday rejected discharge pleas filed by seven accused in the case relating to the 2024 TRP game zone fire in which 27 persons died.

The massive fire took place on May 25 last year.

The court of additional district judge DS Singh rejected the discharge pleas of seven accused, including the then town planning officer (TPO) of RajkotMunicipal Corporation Mansukh Sagathiya, and ordered framing of charges against them.

The court examined the case record, including the police report and chargesheet among other documents, and observed that a strong prima facie case is made out against all the accused, special public prosecutor Tushar Gokani said.

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“While rejecting their discharge pleas, the court also considered the legal position laid down by the Supreme Court that even strong suspicion based on the materials on record is sufficient to frame a charge. The material on record sufficiently establishes the prima facie involvement of the accused persons in the tragic incident,” Gokani said.

Apart from Sagathiya, the others who moved discharge pleas included then deputy chief fire officer Bhikha Theba, assistant TPO Gautam Joshi, as well as co-owner of the facility Dhaval Thakkar and then manager of the game zone Nitin Lodha.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (causing hurt by an act that endangers the life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt to a person by doing an act that endangers their life or personal safety) and 114 (someone present when the offence is committed).

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