A dispute over entry passes at garba venues has escalated inside the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Fire and Emergency Services department, with a divisional fire officer receiving a show-cause notice over alleged unauthorised use of a government vehicle and subsequently seeking an Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation against the acting chief fire officer.
The dispute began after organisers of the ‘Parampara’ garba venue and another event allegedly complained to acting Chief Fire Officer Jayesh Khadia that North West Zone Divisional Fire Officer (DFO) Swastik Jadeja had created a commotion over garba passes on Friday night. The complaint prompted an internal inquiry by the department.
According to the details cited in the show-cause notice, a Bolero vehicle assigned to Jadeja was available at the Thaltej fire station on October 16, 2026. The notice alleges that, despite having an assigned vehicle equipped with GPS, Jadeja took a first-response vehicle allocated to the station fire officer without prior approval or an entry in the department’s official records or the Paldi control room register.
The notice further alleges that the vehicle remained away for around 13 hours without an official entry and was brought back to the station at 4.18am on October 17. It states that entries were made in the records at 4.25am. The acting CFO has described the alleged conduct as serious indiscipline and misuse of government property.
The notice also cites alleged violations of Rule 3 of the Gujarat Civil Services Conduct Rules, 1971, and provisions of the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act. It says Jadeja argued with the acting CFO during a telephone inquiry into the vehicle’s use. The DFO has been asked to provide an explanation within one day.
The report also refers to claims that the vehicle may have been changed to avoid GPS tracking. That claim has not been established in the material available and is described as a matter of discussion within the department. Similarly, the allegation that pressure was exerted by the officer over garba passes is attributed to event organisers and remains part of the complaint under examination.
Jadeja has responded by sending a four-page letter seeking an ACB investigation into the acting CFO. The counter-allegation has widened the dispute from a vehicle-use inquiry into a broader internal administrative confrontation.
The department is currently functioning without its regular CFO, Mithun Mistry, who is reportedly on medical leave. The show-cause process and the request for an ACB inquiry are the next formal developments identified in the report.
