Madras High Court issues notice on plea seeking CBI probe into forged fire safety licenses case

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Monday issued notice to the Director General of Police, Director of Fire and Rescue Services, and a few other officials on a petition filed seeking a CBI probe into a case filed by the Kanniyakumari District Crime Branch (DCB) over forged fire safety licenses.

Justice V Sivagnanam also sought a report from the Kanniyakumari DCB on the present status of the case and adjourned the plea for a month. The direction was issued on a petition filed by Sivaganga-native K Nagarajan, who is working as an Assistant District Officer in the Fire and Rescue Services Department in Nilgiris.

He submitted in his petition that district-level officers can issue fire licenses for constructing buildings that are below 18.3 metres in height. "For buildings that are above that height cap, the license can be issued only by the Director of Fire and Rescue Services. The director generally deputes a multi-storey buildings inspection team, headed by a Deputy Director, to inspect the site and the license thus issued should be renewed annually," Nagarajan explained.

However, when a private hospital in Kanniyakumari approached the department for license renewal last year, the officials detected violations and found that the hospital building's original license was fake, he alleged. "The authorities then inspected other high-rise buildings and identified several forged licenses in use. Subsequently, they lodged a complaint with the Nagercoil Superintendent of Police. But except for the arrest of a head constable attached to the director's office, no progress has been made in the case probe," the petitioner claimed and sought a CBI probe into the issue.