The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Wednesday chargesheeted seven accused persons, including factory owners Manoj Jain and Lalit Goyal, in the Bawana fire case. Seventeen persons were killed in the fire on January 20 this year.
The Crime Branch filed the charge sheet in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of the Rohini courts, Gagandeep Deep Singh, under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Act, Poison Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
Taking the charge sheet on record, Mr. Singh fixed April 4 as the date for consideration of the charge sheet.
The seven persons chargesheeted are Mr. Jain, Mr. Goyal, Surjeeet Goyal, Girish Rathore, Sangeeta Vijay Yadav, Uma Mittal and Brij Bhushan Sood.
The factory owners are in judicial custody, while Mr. Surjeet Goyal and Mr. Rathore are out on bail. The remaining accused were not arrested during the investigation.
The police have cited 84 witnesses in the charge sheet, to be examined in the trial to prove the charges against the accused persons.
Citing the statement of a woman who was injured in the fire, the charge sheet said the factory owners manufactured small Holi crackers with explosive materials without following security norms. Referring to the statement of another injured person, the charge sheet said there was just one gate for both exit and entry at the factory and there no firefighting equipment installed on the premises.
The witness further told the probe agency that a labourer was injured at the factory about four-five days before the fire and that the owners did not care for the safety of the labourers despite the workers complaining about it several times.
Meanwhile, counsel for the victims, Rishi Pal Singh, told The Hindu over phone that he will a file protest petition on the chargesheet, urging the court to order prosecution Mr. Jain’s son Rinku in the case as well as a prosecution witness had said that he was also involved in running of the factory and was present there on the date of the incident.
