The Kerala High Court has initiated suo motu action on the Mundathikode fireworks tragedy of April 21 that killed 17 people.

The tragedy occurred at a fireworks unit located off Thrissur, which was preparing materials for the Thrissur Pooram.

Subsequent to the suo motu action, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. issued notice to the Thiruvambady Devaswom committee and the Paramekkavu Devaswom committee and sought explanation from the police authorities and State officials, including the Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives and the Cochin Devaswom Board.

In this case being considered as Public Interest Litigation, the court will examine if there were any lapses in the handling of materials for the fireworks and violations of previous court orders.

The court initiated suo motu action following complaints about alleged careless handling of the explosives to be used for the fireworks, and news reports that protocols were not followed while handling them.

After a similar fireworks tragedy at Puttingal, the High Court had issued directives to prevent such incidents. In the suo motu case, the court is expected to issue guidelines to ensure that rules for handling fireworks are adhered to.

The matter was posted for hearing on June 16.