Mundka fire tragedy: Retired HC judge probe needed, says Congress 

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Congress has demanded a probe by a retired high court judge into the Mundka fire tragedy that claimed 27 lives on May 13.Blaming the AAP government for negligence, Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar said on Wednesday that the building where the fire broke out did not have a fire clearance certificate, “yet it was functioning as a shopping complex”.

He also alleged that “high corruption” in the Delhi government was responsible for the operation of the “illegal” building. The Delhi government’s decision to conduct a probe into the incident by a district magistrate was intended to cover up its lapses as the question arises that how such an illegal building, without fire safety clearance, was allowed to operate in a crowded area, Kumar said in a statement.

He alleged that the terms and conditions given to the district magistrate for holding the probe were intended to “save BJP and AAP politicians, mayor, councillors and ministers from any blame as there was high corruption behind the functioning of this illegal building”.The Congress also raised a question over “how power and water connections were given to this illegal building”.