Bail granted to three officials in Mulund metro slab collapse case
Mumbai, April 3 -- A sessions court on Thursday granted bail to three project officials arrested in connection with the Metro Line 4 slab collapse at LBS Marg in Mulund on February 14, which left one person dead and three others injured. The court observed that the officials held supervisory and administrative roles and were not directly involved in the on-site execution of the work.
The incident took place around 12.20 pm on February 14 on the arterial LBS Road in Mulund when a slab at an under-construction metro site collapsed. Following the incident, the Mulund police registered a case against several persons associated with the project, including project manager Kuldip Sapkal, engineer Saurabh Singh, Harish Tejsingh Chohan, welder Ramashish, and project consultant - T. Sai Suresh Kumar and project manager Avadhut Inamdar of DB Hill LBG company, which supervised the project.
During the bail hearing, appearing for the applicants, Sapkal, Inamdar and Chohan, advocate Suvarna Avhad Vast argued that the collapse resulted not from any structural defect or deliberate act but from an execution-level lapse at the site. It was submitted that specific instructions had been issued not to cut the hooks of the parapet structure where concreting was incomplete, but the welder allegedly deviated from these instructions, leading to the collapse.
"The court, while granting bail, took note of the fact that the incident appeared to have occurred suddenly and that material on record indicated that the act of the welder was the immediate cause of the occurrence," said Vast. The court also observed that the accused officials were functioning in supervisory capacities and were not directly involved in the physical execution of the work.
The court further noted that the investigation in the case is largely documentary in nature, all relevant records have already been seized, and no further custodial interrogation of the accused was necessary.
The defence also highlighted that the applicants have no criminal antecedents, have cooperated with the investigation, and had extended assistance during rescue operations immediately after the incident.
Observing that in large infrastructure projects criminal liability must be determined based on specific role, direct involvement and proximate cause rather than designation alone, the court granted bail, noting that continued custody would serve no further purpose....
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