The Rajasthan High Court convened in a special session on Saturday to hear a PIL filed by Advocate SK Singh asking the State to explain what measures it has taken to curb the disaster and avert tragedy. The petitioner has alleged that the State failed to take adequate care to prevent the disaster and the response time in fighting the fires was negligently slow.

The IOC's fuel depot combusted on October 28, and the fire has been raging ever since. With 11 casualties thus far, residents of nearby areas are contemplating filing an FIR against IOC for criminal negligence, alleging that no report had been made of the fire until it began raging out of control.

It appears to have become a custom that disasters are immediately followed by PILs, sometime multiple, seeking the court to direct one or the other public authority to take actions relating to the disaster, or explain their negligence in averting the same.

The tsunami in 2004 was followed by a PIL in the Kolkata High Court accusing the government of not installing early warning systems available in other countries. The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks were followed by a host of PILs, including the one filed by Advocate V.P. Patil, less than two days after the attack, seeking action against M K Narayanan, the National Security Advisor, accusing him of "negligence". The Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) was also quick to file a PIL in the Bombay High Court, asking why the 'Quick Response Team' of the Mumbai police was caught unawares by the attack. Amarchand Mangaldas is arguing on behalf of SILF. The Society has engaged several legal bigwigs, with Senior Counsel Iqbal Chagla and Janak Dwarkadas in the forefront.