The state government informed the Gujarat High Court that a “major penalty” has been proposed against the then “erring officer”, Chief Officer (CO) of Morbi Municipality in connection with the October 30, 2022, suspension bridge collapse that killed 135 people. This follows the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC)’s agreement to the recommendation after disciplinary action was initiated.
In an affidavit by the Under Secretary, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, filed on August 29, in compliance with the HC order dated July 18, the state government placed on record that a disciplinary action has been taken against the “erring official”, the then CO of Morbi Municipality, Sandeepsinh Zala.
The September 12 oral order of the Gujarat High Court bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray — which is hearing a suo motu PIL in the Morbi bridge tragedy — noted that the affidavit had detailed the recommended punishment and that the matter was before the “appropriate authority” after seeking a reply from the officer concerned.
The oral order of the HC said, “… it is placed on record that the disciplinary action has been taken against the erring official and the punishment was proposed under the provisions of Rule 6 of the Gujarat Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1971… has been communicated to the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) vide letter dated July 17, 2025 to obtain its approval. The GPSC has agreed to the recommendation of the department to impose a major penalty on the Chief Officer of Morbi Nagarpalika, namely the erring official…”
The oral order of the HC further notes that the proposed penalty is “in the form of reduction in the time scale of pay by three stages, with future effect, for a period of three years” and a “response of the delinquent officer has been sought for” on August 8, 2025 and the reply (by the officer) has been submitted on August 26. The order notes, “Now the matter is with the appropriate authority for final decision. The decision taken by the appropriate authority shall be placed on record.”
In an earlier hearing, during the course of the PIL, the HC had sought to know if the state government had initiated disciplinary action against Morbi Municipality’s then CO Sandeepsinh Zala, who had been suspended days after the tragedy.
The final report by the special investigation team (SIT) probing the Morbi bridge collapse, which was submitted by the state government before the Gujarat HC in 2023, had noted that Zala was responsible for the signing of the MoU with Oreva “without proper authorisation” from the general board of the Morbi municipality and he “did not put up the agreement for subsequent approval of the board”.
