The father of one of the victims of the Game Zone fire in Rajkot, which had claimed 27 lives, has moved the district consumer disputes redressal commission (DCDRC) of Rajkot, seeking Rs 20 lakh as punitive damages from the owners of the park, alleging that his son died due to “deficient service”.
A fire had broken out at TRP Game Zone, an indoor and outdoor gaming facility, on May 25. One of the victims charred to death was 20-year-old Nirav Vekariya, the only child of Rasik Vekariya, a businessman.
Through his advocate Gajedra Jani, Rasik has on June 29 filed a complaint with the Rajkot DCDRC, seeking Rs 20 lakh as punitive damages.
In his complaint, he enlisted Raceway Enterprise, a partnership firm that was running the TRP Game Zone in partnership with Dhaval Corporation. He has also named Rajkot’s district collector, municipal commissioner and police commissioner as respondents as “their offices are custodians of relevant vital documentary evidence and information” of the case. Alleging that the “act of negligence, deficiency in service and unfair trade practice resulted in mental harassment, physical harassment and monetary harassment” to him, Rasik said he has “suffered pain, shock and suffering”. He sought to declare that the “product/service offered by firm (Raceway Enterprise) and partners were defective” and that the company and its partners are liable to pay damages under product liability and product liability action of Consumer Protection Act’s Section 39.
After admitting the complaint, the DCDRC last Saturday issued notices to respondents, asking them to respond by August 2.
Speaking to mediapersons on Monday, 45-year-old Rasik, who runs a business of offset printing services, said, “My child is gone. What shall we do with the money, as he was our only child? Nonetheless, I have filed this case so that such incidents can be prevented in the future.”
Nirav was an undergraduate student of bachelor of technology (computer science and engineering) at a private university in Rajkot.
Rashik’s advocate Gajedra Jani said that the TRP Game Zone was liable to ensure safety of its consumers but it failed to do so. “No price tag can be put on a human life. Even if lakhs or crores are paid, those who have been killed will not return. But the Vekariya family feels that such incidents should not happen again, that no one’s loved son should be snatched away from them in such a manner. That’s why we have filed the suit,” he added.
The state government has paid Rs 4 lakh as ex-gratia to kin of the victims. A special investigation team of Rajkot City Police that is investigating the incident, has so far arrested 15 people, including the five owners and one manager of the TRP Game Zone, as well as eight officials of Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
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