India, Feb. 22 -- The Gujarat high court on Wednesday pulled up Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) for the Harni Lake tragedy saying that the authorities focused mainly on beautification and commercial activities at the waterbody and lacked the "mental faculty" to ensure public safety while granting contracts to a private entity.

The division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee was hearing a sou motu PIL (public interest litigation) in the January 18 incident where a boat carrying students and teachers out on a picnic capsized in Harni Lake in Vadodara, killing 12 students and two teachers, while 18 students and two teachers were rescued.

"You handed out a contract to him (contractor) without guidelines, ...