Mumbai: Court denies reliefs to two accused in Malad lift accident which killed a schoolboy

In the incident where a 11-year-old schoolboy lost his life last month after being crushed when the elevator in a Malad residential society that was under repair moved suddenly as he was entering it, a Dindoshi sessions court has denied relief to the mechanic and the lift maintenance company owner involved in it.

The mechanic Vivek Pandey was arrested after the incident for not not taking precautions such as keeping a signboard or persons to warn residents from using the lift while on repair. The court denied him bail.

The elevator maintenance firm owner Sudheer Jha had sought anticipatory bail. The Malad police station had booked them under IPC provisions 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 304-A (causing death by negligence).

Additional Sessions Judge SU Baghele said in his order while refusing relief to Jha, that it was incumbent upon him to ensure that sufficient numbers of persons were sent for repairs so that entry of any person into the lift could be prevented.

For both of them, the court observed that they must be possessing the knowledge that their act could lead to death. It considered the gravity of the crime while denying them the reliefs.

Both had claimed in his bail application that the offence of culpable homicide would not be made out as they did not have the intention or knowledge that death could be caused. The mechanic also contended that the victim had entered the lift though he was warned by people not to. He said the society’s watchman was also instructed to keep a watch so that no one enters the lift.

The police station had opposed the pleas stating that no precautions such as locking the lift door or sending an assistant along with the mechanic was taken.