KOCHI:The Justice P S Gopinathan Commission, which is probing the 2016 Puttingal fireworks mishap, has approached the government for a further extension of its tenure. The tenure of the commission ends on August 12.
The inquiry procedure has entered the final stage as the commission hearing the argument made by the council representing people who impleaded as a party in the commission. Till now, the commission has examined 172 witnesses and 176 documents. As many as 67 sittings were held starting from 2017. “We expect argument stage would be completed in next one month. Later, the commission will prepare the report and file it before the government. The commission has heard the arguments by the government pleader. It will be hearing the council for the commission from July 31,” an official in the commission office said.
There has been a delay on the part of the state forensic laboratory in filing the report related to examination of explosive samples recovered from the premises of the Puttingal temple after the mishap. Even though the commission approached the state forensic laboratory twice, there was no response from the authorities. Later the commission reported the matter to the state government. “The state government has directed the forensic laboratory to expedite the examination of explosive samples and provide the report to the commission. The report from the forensic laboratory is important to confirm that banned explosives were used at Puttingal,” an official said.
The commission sitting is being held at its office in Ernakulam. Apart from it, sittings were also held at Asramom, Varkala and Sivagiri. The firework tragedy at Puttingal Devi temple in Kollam on April 10, 2016, left over 100 people dead and thousands injured. Apart from the police investigation, the judicial commission was appointed to probe into the incident. As many as 12 persons were impleaded as a party with inquiry commission, which includes the District Collector, Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Police Commissioner, Assistant Police Commissioner, Circle Inspector, Sub Inspector and temple committee members.