Three years on, Govt told to table status report on Moulivakkam collapse

The HC has also asked the government on the one-man inquiry commission report that was prepared into the tragedy. The bench of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice M Sundar, passing orders on the PIL of DMK leader seeking CBI probe into the issue, said the petitioner too should offer his comments and rejoinder to the report, so that the issue could be taken up for hearing two months later. 

On Friday, P Wilson, senior counsel for Stalin, submitted that at least 300 workers from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu were buried alive in the incident, and only a neutral probe would unravel the truth. 

The investigating officer was shielding the accused, he said adding that he sought to nullify the deposition of expert witnesses. Wilson said the investigating officer had held only the builder responsible and given clean chit to officials. If this type of investigation is to be continued, the real culprits will escape, he said. 

Even on the date of applying for project permission in 2012, the ill-fated building had reached three levels, Wilson pointed out. With respect to the one-man commission report filed by Justice R Reghupathy, the senior advocate said the judge was holding four posts including the post of president of state consumer commission. 

When the issue was raked up in the high court, and bench raised queries, the commission had, in a hurried manner, submitted its report on August 25, 2014, he said. The bench mulled appointment of a new one man commission and sought to know what the government had done with the report of the Reghupathy commission. It also asked the government and CMDA to respond.