Submit Kamala Mills fire report before August 31: Bombay HC to Maharashtra government

The State government on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that it has acted on the order passed by the court seeking for the setting of a committee to probe the Kamala mills fire. The state submitted that retired Justice A V Savant will be the chairperson of the three member committee. The committee will check if there was any violation of norms either by the owners of the land or the restaurants which lead to the mighty fire claiming 14 lives in December 2017. The court has asked the committee to submit its first report on or before August 31.

Senior counsel, Vineet Naik, who was appearing on behalf of the government informed the court presided by Justice's S M Kemkar and M S Karnik that the committee will also comprise of two other members -- Vasant Thakur, an architect on one of the high court panels and K Nalinakshan, the former Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. The committee will also recommend measures to be taken to avoid repetition of such incidents and other fire safety compliance steps.

The court has thus asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to provide an office, staff and other infrastructure to the committee's chairperson and members.