Allahabad HC takes suo moto cognizance of Lucknow hotel fire

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the fire incident that occurred in Hotel Levana Suites which led to the death of four persons, earlier this week.

Expressing anguish on the failure of the state authorities in not being able to check construction of high rises, commercial complexes and hotels in the state capital without suitable NOCs from the departments concerned, the court directed the Lucknow development authority (LDA) vice chairman and Lucknow chief fire officer to furnish before it, the details of buildings constructed in the city without NOC from the fire department.

A division bench comprising Justice Rakesh Srivastava and Justice B.R. Singh passed the orders after taking suo motu notice of the incident.

The bench took on record several news reports relating to the incident. The court also took note of divisional commissioner Roshan Jackob’s statement in the media that the hotel had got NOC from the fire department while the building had no appropriate fire management system.

The court expressed concern as to how the hotel was allowed to run without a fire exit in the building.

In its order, the court asked LDA VC to clarify how many buildings in the city, which should not have been granted fire NOC, managed to obtain it. The court also asked the VC the details of buildings running commercial activities where there is no way for the ambulance and fire brigade to reach.

The court summoned the LDA VC on September 22 along with the details required by it.

The court also asked the chief fire officer for the details of those buildings which do not have proper exit and necessary equipment to deal with the situation in case of a fire.