The Esplanade court on Friday remanded a retired chief engineer of the bridges department at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in judicial custody for 14 days. Shitalprasad Kori was arrested in connection with the foot overbridge collapse outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in March, which killed seven people.
Seeking Mr. Kori’s custody, public prosecutor Rajendra Suryavanshi told the court that the police found some emails exchanged between Mr. Kori and auditor Neeraj Desai, whose firm, Prof D.D. Desai’s Associated Engineering Consultants and Analysts Private Limited, had conducted a structural audit of the bridge. Mr. Suryavanshi said Mr. Kori had visited the bridge but there is nothing on record to show that.
However, defence advocate Ashwin Thool, representing Mr. Kori, said the latter retired last year, so there is nothing with him, and all his records are with the police and the BMC.
Metropolitan Magistrate N.N. Joshi sent Mr. Kori to judicial custody and adjourned the matter to May 24.
On May 7, the same magistrate had remanded Mr. Kori in three days of police custody after he was presented before the court by the Azad Maidan police. Mr. Suryawanshi had then alleged that Mr. Kori had been negligent in auditing the bridge and supervising the work of assistant engineers properly, which could have caused the mishap. However, Mr. Thool had argued that the collapse occurred after his client’s retirement and thus he could not be held liable for negligence.
On May 9, the Azad Maidan police filed a 709-page charge sheet stating that guidelines were not followed while conducting the audit. The police said the collapse occurred because of lack of coordination between Mr. Desai, who was first arrested in the case, and the bridges department of the BMC.
