3 min readBhopalUpdated: May 6, 2026 10:18 PM IST
A district court in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district has directed police to register an FIR against the operator of the cruise boat that capsized in the Bargi reservoir on April 30, holding that the crew’s “failure” to rescue drowning passengers could amount to serious criminal offences.
Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports and social media coverage of the incident, Judicial Magistrate First Class D.P. Sutrakar ordered the Bargi police station to lodge an FIR and report back to the court within two days.
In the order dated May 5, the court observed that the boat operator allegedly drove the vessel “negligently”, leading to the sinking that killed several passengers. The magistrate noted that the operator, despite being familiar with the functioning of the vessel, “left the drowning persons and escaped safely himself”.
“The vessel operator, despite being familiar with the activities and functioning of the vessel, abandoned the passengers who were drowning and himself escaped safely. His failure to make any effort to save them prima facie attracts provisions under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 110 relating to attempt to commit culpable homicide,” the order read.
The court opined that if an FIR is not registered and investigation is not carried out in the matter, then in “future operators of cruises or boats may similarly abandon other persons during mishaps, leading to repetition of such incidents,” the order stated.
The magistrate said the court was taking suo motu cognisance to prevent recurrence of such incidents and ordered that an FIR be registered against the driver present on the boat at the time of the incident as well as other crew members.
The April 30 boat tragedy in the Bargi dam area of Jabalpur district had claimed 13 lives after a cruise ship reportedly overturned during an evening ride. The local authorities have claimed that the mishap was a result of a storm and constituted a high-level committee to probe the allegations.
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When asked about the court order, the police have confirmed the receipt of the order but are yet to register an FIR. “We have received an FIR in the case and have begun investigation. We will soon update the court with our probe,” said a senior police officer.
