Mumbai: Residents of Siddhi Sai apartment, which collapsed in Ghatkopar two months ago, moved the Bombay High Court on Monday, opposing the bail plea filed by the accused, Shiv Sena member Sunil Shitap.
Those who have approached the court include Lalit Thak, who lost his mother, wife and daughter; Mehul Dongre, who lost his parents and one-year-old son; Rajesh Diyora, whose mother, brother and sister-in-law died in the collapse; Paras Ajmera, who lost his wife and daughter; Sinika Khanchandani, whose father, grandmother and brother were victims; and Pritesh Shah, who lost his mother and daughter. Lalchand Ramchandani, Neeraj Gandhi and Darshan Joshi, whose wife, cousin and son, respectively, were injured, and Sadhana Shah and Birendrakumar Singh, who lost their property, are also among those opposing Mr. Shitap’s bail.
Mr. Shitap, who is lodged in Thane Central Prison, has been booked under Sections 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.
The petition filed by advocate Ashish Mehta says Mr. Shitap, his wife and mother had bought three flats on the ground floor and one more on the upper floor of the building and converted their usage from residential to commercial without securing the necessary permissions or consent of the society. In July 2017, he carried out extensive alterations to the premises, removing the load-bearing internal walls and six columns and beams. The remaining load-bearing beams and columns had been tampered with, and the plaster of the columns was also removed.
The victims said Mr. Shitap had installed a new rolling shutter by cutting the wall facing the society’s main gate, and made other major structural changes, which ultimately resulted in the accident.
On August 24, the additional sessions court had rejected his bail plea. A single-judge bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere will hear the plea on Tuesday.
