Counsel Ashok Aggarwal, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the Delhi Government or the Centre had not offered any compensation to the victims even though four months had gone by. Besides, no action has yet been taken to prosecute the erring officials.

A division bench comprising Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice S K Aggarwal directed the Delhi Government, Centre, Delhi police commissioner and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to respond to the PIL filed by the All India Lawyers Union (AILU) within three weeks and adjourned the matter to October 6.

The PIL filed through Aggarwal on behalf of the families of those dead, injured and those who lost their properties in the inferno has also urged the court to direct the Delhi and Central Governments toimplement the recommendations of the P P Chauhan and S C Vajpayee committees.

Aggarwal has, in the petition, pointed out the authorities' failure to take effective measures to ensure prevention of such tragedies in future and their failure to punish the erring officials "for the culpable acts resulting in the loss of life and property".

Challenging the amount of compensation announced by the Delhi Government, the AILU says the relief should be in the ratio of damages suffered by a particular family. It also questioned the Government attitude in not announcing relief for those who lost their property in the devastating fire in old Delhi.