Bhavesh Bhinde, the director of Ego Media, the advertising firm that erected the hoarding in Ghatkopar that collapsed on May 13 this year, killing 17 people, has sought quashing of the FIR against him as the incident was an “act of God”.
Mr. Bhinde claimed in his bail application filed before the Bombay High Court that he cannot take responsibility for the deaths in the incident as “unexpected and unprecedented wind speeds of up to 96 kmph” had caused the hoarding to collapse. He said neither he nor Ego Media Pvt Ltd could be held accountable for it.
The court on Friday asked the Mumbai police to respond to the bail petition filed by Mr. Bhinde, who has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and is currently in judicial custody.
A Division Bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande directed the Mumbai police to file an affidavit by July 26 on the petition’s contention of “illegal and unlawful arrest” as Mr. Bhinde was not informed of the grounds for arrest as per the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
“The IMD bulletin failed to predict the severe dust storms with gusty winds that hit Mumbai on the fateful day. On account of the aforesaid, the hoarding collapsed and not due to improper, faulty construction as wrongly, falsely alleged in the FIR,” it said.
‘Hoarding legally erected’
The petition also mentioned that on the day of the collapse, gusty storms had caused several casualties as trees fell and buildings were damaged too. It cited the example of a multi-storey parking lot in Wadala that collapsed, injuring three people. It also claimed that the Ghatkopar hoarding was legally erected with all requisite permissions and that the case was registered out of political pressure. “It is baseless, untenable, and not maintainable under the law,” the plea said.
The construction and placement of the hoarding was authorised by the Government Railway Police and with necessary NOCs, it added. Considering that the hoarding was on the Railways’ land, no permission was required from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was incorrectly applied, the petition said. It also said the Commissioner of Police, Railways, granted the rights for the construction of the hoarding to Ego Media on November 22, 2022.
Responding to the plea, public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar informed the court that a detailed affidavit will be filed. “Hiten Venegaonkar is desirous of filing the reply to affidavit, particularly as regards prayer Clause (c), which has prayed for declaration of arrest of the petitioner as illegal, unlawful and bad in law,” the Bench said.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on July 26.
