The Parliament and the Supreme Court buildings are facing serious fire safety issues with the apex court premises not getting safety certificate from the fire authorities for last 10 years.
The issue was highlighted by the Central Information Commission (CIC) which pulled up the Delhi Fire Service for not releasing information regarding the fire safety of the Parliament and the Supreme Court under Right to Information (RTI) Act claiming it to be sensitive in nature.
The Commission observed that this is a grave matter of life of hundreds of Constitutional office holders, and the information should have been provided within 48 hours.
Taking serious view of the fact that last fire safety inspection of the Supreme Court was done in 2004 while for the Parliament it was done in 2013, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said fire department should not have waited for 10 years for taking action.
He pointed out that Fire Service department had pointed out shortfalls in fire safety of these buildings but did not take action to fill the gaps despite being empowered under the law to do so.
"The Commission feels that the respondent authority should have taken sufficient initiative to enforce all safety guidelines in Parliament and Supreme Court buildings by apprising the authorities in Legislature and Judiciary about the need of immediate action, instead of waiting nearly for a decade, perhaps with the hesitation not to cause embarrassment to higher authorities," he said.
In an exhaustive order of 10-pages, Acharyulu directed the Chief of Delhi Fire Service to take a "serious note" of fire-safety "lapses" in the buildings housing Supreme Court and Parliament and directed to appraise the authorities in Legislature and Judiciary about necessity and importance of taking the measures recommended by them.
"The Commission observed that this is a grave matter of life of hundreds of Constitutional office holders, hence the information sought is matter relating to life which should have been answered within 48 hours," he said.
