Goa club fire: Absconding panchayat secretary dismissed, sarpanch disqualified

THe Goa authorities has terminated a punchayet secretarial assistant’s services and disqualified a sarpanch for allegedly allowing the birch tree by Romeo Lane nightclub, where 25 were killed in a discharge on December 6, to operate illegally. The two, Raghuvir Bagkar and Roshan Redkar, have been on the run, with a local court rejecting their anticipatory bail pleas.Safety lapses, including an inadequate number of exits, a thatched roof, and stacks of alcohol, intensified the fire that ripped through the nightclub in the coastal village of Arpora.On December 16, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, the owners of the club, were arrested at Delhi airport after being deported from Thailand, where they fled after the fire.Mahadev Araundekar, the director of panchayats, issued separate orders late on Wednesday, sacking Bagkar and disqualifying Redkar after chief minister Pramod Sawant chaired a meeting to consider the magisterial inquiry report into the fire.The first order accused Bagkar of malafide intention, gross irregularities, and dereliction of duties in allowing the Birch by Romeo Lane to operate.The inquiry report cited illegalities in the operation of the nightclub and said that even a layman could have noticed them. It added that its structures were constructed in an ecologically sensitive salt pan, where no licence could have been issued. The report pointed to the allocation of house numbers to illegal commercial structures despite the absence of a construction licence and occupancy certificate.It referred to the failure of the Arpora panchayat to defend its demolition order before the director of panchayats. The probe report found that the panchayat failed to carry out the demolition despite multiple opportunities for it in two window periods, including one of over 50 days between when the demolition order was passed and then stayed.The order said there was a serious dereliction of duties, gross negligence, and deliberate ignorance of violation of the statutory and regulatory provisions in Bagkar’s discharge of duties as panchayat secretary, which led to the fire and 25 fatalities. The order said fatalities could have been avoided had he discharged his duties responsibly.The order noted that Bagkar is reported to have absconded and evaded arrest. “As such, he is also not available for a departmental inquiry proposed to be conducted into his grave misconduct, which ultimately resulted in the unfortunate incident….”It cited the quantum and the gravity of the series of acts of commission and omission. “...initiating disciplinary proceedings and conducting an inquiry is not reasonably practicable,” said the order. “The conduct of the employee is so blameworthy and prejudicial to the public interest that his continued retention in service is no longer desirable.”Redkar was disqualified under the Goa Panchayat Raj Act’s Section 50(5), which provides for the removal of a sarpanch or deputy sarpanch for failing to discharge their duties or for misconduct, and revocation of membership, making them ineligible to be re-elected for five years.The order for Redkar’s disqualification said he presided over meetings where the irregularities of the nightclub were either ignored or tacitly approved. It cited the probe report and said it found that the establishment, which initially operated from a temporary shed, was converted into a high-end nightclub without approved building plans.“The conduct on the part of the sarpanch can be classified as ‘persistent remiss of duties’. The failure of the sarpanch is not merely administrative; it is a breach of the public trust that resulted in a catastrophe,” the order said.