MAHENDRA GAUR
B.E., P.G.D.M, LL.B.
ADVOCATE
B-90, SARASWATI MARG,
BAJAJ NAGAR, JAIPUR-302015
T/FAX 0141-2705901,
PHONE: 09829059018
October 31, 2009
Director General of Police
Rajasthan, Jaipur
Sub: FIR AGAINST THE COMPANY INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LIMITED HAVING ITS REGISTERED OFFICE AT G-9, ALI YAVAR JUNG MARG, BANDRA EAST, MUMBAI-400051, (hereinafter referred to as IOC for short) THE CHAIRMAN AND THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY IOC AND THE UNNAMED OFFICERS AND STAFF OF THE COMPANY IOC HAVING ITS LOCAL PETROLEUM STORAGE TERMINAL AT SITAPURA AND LOCAL STATE OFFICE AT ASHOK CHOWK, ADARSH NAGAR, JAIPUR –302004
1. That on 29th October 2009 at about 7:40 p.m. my wife Mrs. Shashi Gaur came rushing to me to show a huge ball of fire erupting south of Jaipur. I could immediately make out that one of the Oil Terminals had caught fire. I rang up my friend K. L. Chaturvedi to find out which of the three terminals was on Fire. On switching on TV the News headlines were showing that an Oil Terminal was on fire but did not specify any particular company. I also tried to contact other IOC officers. In the meanwhile Mr. K. L. Chaturvedi confirmed that it was IOC terminal on fire so did the news channels.
2. I telephoned Mr. G. C. Daga, Director Marketing IOC at about 8:30 p.m. and told him that a big fire has taken place in IOC Terminal. He told me that he got the information about ½ an hour back from his officers. He asked me about the intensity of the fire and I told him that it is a massive fire and I can see the ball of fire and smoke from 18 kilometres. It appears that the entire terminal is gone. I then made efforts to find out the welfare of the officers concerned but there was no response till I could speak to Mr. R. K. Santlani, who told me that he was rushing to the spot and GM and Terminal Manager were there on the spot.
3. Since about 10:00 p.m. on 29/10/09, I started getting calls from Rajasthan Patrika, Danik Bhaskar, Hindustan Times, Daily News, just to name a few to know about technical details of fire, fire fighting equipments and possibilities of accident vis-à-vis negligence. My responses are covered in the press reports and or emails, which can be referred to or produced on demand.
4. Now it is evident from the media reports and from the information gathered from various sources that the leakage of Petrol (Motor Spirit) started many hours before 7:35 p.m. when the fire broke out, possibly around 4:00 p.m. on 29/10/09.
5. It is also becoming clear from the media reports, the statements of IOC officers, from the press conference held by the IOC board of directors that a few of the officers/staff who went to check the leak had fainted, which lead to further delay in attending to the leakage. This is also verifiable from hospital record of the injured officers and treatment offered to them.
6. Obviously, the IOC terminal did not have protective equipment like mask, oxygen cylinder and protective clothing required while working in hazardous environment full of Petrol (Motor Spirit) Vapour. Alternatively, if the Terminal did have the equipment the officers and staff were so negligent in their attitude that they did not make use of it. In either case either the company IOC was so negligent not to have these equipments or in the alternative it’s staff and officers were casual and negligent in not making proper use of these equipments while approaching a hazardous area. In doing so they have violated the safety provisions, rules and regulations framed from time to time by various statutory authorities.
7. That IOC like every oil company and their terminals including the Jaipur Terminal are governed by EXPLOSIVES ACT, 1884, Explosives Rules, 2008, Gas Cylinder Rules, 2004, Static & Mobile Pressure Vessels (Unfired) Rules, 1981, PETROLEUM ACT, 1934, Petroleum Rules, 2002, etc. and work under licence from CCE Nagpur. The licence is issued on the basis of NOC issued by the State Government subject to certain conditions. In addition there is also operating manual and safety manual of the company IOC. That the company and its officers have been so negligent as not to follow the various acts, rules, regulations, and its own safety manual with respect to installation and maintenance and upkeep of fire hydrant/sprinkler system which are so essential to meet any eventuality of fire hazard and to contain the fire in case of an accident. The non-use of DCP and Chemical Foam proves that either these items were not there, or if there were beyond expiry date, or the officers were not trained to use them. In either case the company IOC was negligent in procurement/upkeep of safety equipment and training of staffs about its proper use in crisis situation.
8. The initial explosion at 7:35 p.m. which was heard miles away and resulted in physical damages all around the Sitapura Industrial Area and the residential area surrounding the IOC terminal goes to establish beyond all reasonable doubts that IOC and its officers were negligent enough to allow the Petrol (Motor Spirit) leakage to build up since 4:00 p.m. onward on 29th October 2009 and the resultant vapour to spread all around the terminal and surrounding area and make such rich air-fuel mixture which could catch fire even if any light was ignited outside the licensed area of the terminal since the mixture of fuel vapour and air do not recognise the boundary limits of the licensed area. The quick spread of the fire to the other tanks also goes to establish that no sprinkler system was operative either manually or automatically. It is immaterial whether the light was ignited or the fire broke out accidentally when came in contact with any spark because the build up of the air fuel mixture of this large proportion since 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. was man made due to negligence of IOC and its staffs on duty or those who though supposed to be on duty were running Helter Skelter in panic rather than attending to the leakage and possible fallout. In the process crucial time was lost and the fumes were allowed to assume dangerous proportions. Even the officers and IOC were negligent in raising the alarm so late that none of the factories in the neighbourhood could take evasive measures to the extent possible. For example if the alarm had been raised at 4:00 p.m. the factories could have pressed their own fire fighting equipment and services at the disposal of IOC, shifted their finished goods to safe place. So much so that even BPC fire fighting equipments were not called in aid proves the casual and negligent attitude of IOC and its staffs.
9. That after a fire broke out at IOC Vaishali Nagar Petrol Pump in October 2008; I filed a written complaint at IOC Sahkar Marg petrol pump about parking of LPG tanker at the Petrol Pump site beyond the licensed capacity of the said Petrol Pump. Not only IOC did not reply to the complaint, it continued parking the LPG tanker for the whole of last one year and even on 30/10/2009 viz. a day after the fire incident at Sitapura it kept the Tanker parked near the pump. This also goes to show the casual and negligent attitude of the company IOC to the safety norms and persisting with hazardous practice disdainfully with scant respect to the life and property of other persons living nearby or passer by.
10. That in scant regard to safety of the people in Jaipur City and even elsewhere, the company IOC through its LPG distributors, uses street corners as dumps for its 14.2 Kg domestic LPG cylinders every day keeping more than 7 cylinders (100 Kg) in violation of explosive rules. A number of complaints lodged by me to IOC management and to the explosive department have been ignored and the company IOC, its officers and dealers/distributors who continue to store the LPG cylinders in negligent manner to the peril of nearby residents and passer by. All these negligent practices of IOC and its dealers are to squeeze illegal profits from the consumers at the expense of general safety.
11. Thus the conduct of the company IOC, its officers and dealers/distributors is negligent whether it is unauthorised parking of LPG tanker, or LPG cylinders near street corners or upkeep of Terminals within safety zone.
12. That CBI has registered a case against IOC officers and staff from Jaipur Terminal about theft of product and a shortage of 130 KL in petrol is reported. It is no coincidence that shortage is of petrol and leakage and fire also took place in Petrol tank first. It has been a custom in IOC depots that product theft takes place and the depot staffs adjust such thefts by showing leakage of the product. Verification of past cases of leakages recorded would also show that no departmental action is taken against the persons responsible for causing losses to the company as the entire management chain is involved. Since Petrol fetches better rewards for the same quantity the leakage is generally of petrol and not that of SKO or HSD. Thus generally whenever a case of leakage recorded it is a wolf cry, but this time the wolf was real and big so IOC and staffs were not equipped to handle it.
13. The suo motu announcement of damages worth Rs. 10 lacs to the next of the kin of dead and Rs. 2 lacs for seriously injured and minimum Rs. 1 lacs to all injured is an admission of liability in tort towards the damages caused by the company and its officers by their negligence. It would be pertinent to mention that the company owes no responsibility to the people and the State of Rajasthan had already discharged its responsibility to provide relief to its subjects. It is trite law that payment of compensation or discharge of civil or trot liability would not wipe out criminal offences by the company IOC and its staffs.
14. In 1994 the company IOC and its officers had with intention to make good the losses in KEROSENE mixed petrol with kerosene and knowingly that such mixed-kerosene would be hazardous in domestic use supplied that mixed-kerosene in the market. That after coming to know of 4 deaths in Kaithunipole Area of Kota on 18/02/1994 the company IOC suspended supplies of SKO from its depot since 19/02/1994 and got into an act of destroying the evidence. However, before the evidence could be destroyed the kerosene supplied between 16/2/1994 and 19/2/1994 caused several deaths in Kota, Baran, Jhalawar and Bundi area in the first/second week of March 1994. The IOC and its officers misled the Government and police about the product quality and their culpability until the undersigned an IOC officer then along with late Mr. Cyril Jackson (also IOC officer) was called by Mr. Mithalal Mehta, the then Chief Secretary to the Government of Rajasthan at his residence on holiday viz. 12/03/1994 at 1:00 p.m.. Mr. Rohit Kumar Singh the then Additional Food Commissioner was also present. The undersigned informed the CS that earlier cases of similar accidents reported in Assam and Kerala had shown adulteration of Kerosene with Petrol. The adulteration of kerosene with petrol by a trader is ruled out because of financial loss in the operation. Such mixing can take place only at a place where financial loss is of no consequence viz. refinery or the depot. As the Depot keeps test record of flash point, even if mixing had taken place in refinery, it would be detected. Therefore, the only possibility of mixing is in the Kota Depot. The case was cracked the same evening leading to arrest of 4 officers of IOC, whereas for the past 4-5 days IOC was knowingly leading the State machinery in circles. That the undersigned has personal knowledge that the then Director Marketing Mr. Bhishm Kumar Bakshi wanted the State Government to agree for a compensation of Rs.70, 000.00 instead of Rs. 75, 000.00 for the next of the kin of the dead, but had to relent when the undersigned refused to bargain with the State Government over compensation amount for the dead particularly when the management spends this much amount on a single dinner and drinks party hosted by it. The other recommendations made by the undersigned such as, immediate stoppage of SKO sales by all the oil co. and the traders to allow mopping up of adulterated SKO and keeping the same in defunct depot of IOC in Ajmer etc. was also implemented to deal with the crisis. Thereafter, the accidents and deaths of innocent people stopped. The IOC officers spent about 4 months in jail and some other senior officers like Mr. N. S. Alhuwalia absconded from Jaipur fearing arrest.
15. That the State Government has allowed Mr. Sarthak Behuria to escape arrest for the crimes against environment in the like manner in which Mr. Anderson of Union Carbide was allowed to escape after Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Not only the Sitapura Industrial Area which has faced triple tragedy of physical loss of property due to damage and theft, loss of lives and limbs, and loss of production and goodwill but the residents of Jaipur City would be subjected to air pollution related respiratory and other diseases for a long time to come. That Mr. Behuria did not stay long enough in Jaipur to pay condolence visit to the bereaved families of IOC officers shows his nervousness about his arrests, as he knows his culpability.
16. In the above mentioned facts and circumstance a case u/ss 166, 304A, 511 r/w 120B IPC 1860 and various provisions of Environmental Acts, Petroleum Acts and Explosive Acts is made out against the company INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LIMITED, its entire Board of Directors and unknown officers and staffs.
17. That I have a number of litigations pending against IOC and its directors; however, I bear no enmity against the company and/or any of its officers. The FIR is being lodged in societal interest and as per the provisions of Cr. P. C. 39 (1) (v) and the duties of a citizen under Article 51A of the Constitution of India. As the offences have been committed under various Police Station areas and conspiracy has been hatched in Jaipur/outside Jaipur on phone/fax, the case is registered in Jaipur and investigation be given to a senior police officer having good background of investigation in white collar organized crimes.
COMPLAINANT: - Mahendra Gaur s/o Late Shri M. L. Gaur,
aged 54 years, caste Brahmin, Hindu,
r/o B-90, Saraswati Marg, Bajaj, Nagar, Jaipur-302015
cc. Hon’ble Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, with a request to consider this as a letter petition for handing over the case and investigation to CBI as the offences have also been committed beyond the boundaries of the State of Rajasthan and also that CBI is already investigating the theft case which is closely linked with the matter.
Mahendra Gaur
COMPLAINANT
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