HC orders inspection of Sultanpuri factory

The High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi government, the police and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to inspect the premises of the illegal shoe factory located in a residential area in Sultanpuri where four people were killed in a fire on April 9.

News articles

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar, which initiated the proceedings on its own on basis of news articles, issued notices to the authorities and asked them to file status reports after conducting an inspection.

Rights of labourers

Stating that it was concerned about the rights of labourers and the right to life, the court asked the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to ensure the injured persons receive medical treatment.

It listed the matter for hearing on April 24.

Four workers, including two minors, died in the fire at the shoe manufacturing unit in Delhi’s Sultanpuri early on April 9.

The Delhi Fire Service received a call regarding the blaze at Rajapuri in Sultanpuri around 6.30 a.m.

Over two dozen workers were asleep on the first and second floors of the three-storey building when the fire broke out.

At least 10 fire tenders rushed to the spot but the narrow alleys posed a great challenge before they could reach the site, the police had said, adding that firefighters struggled for a couple of hours to douse the fire.

The factory was allegedly running illegally in the residential area, they had said.

The deceased have been identified as Razi Mohammad (20), Shan Mohammad (17), and siblings Ayub (17) and Mehboob (18). All of them belonged to Asmada village in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district.