Mumbai: A sessions court on Monday rejected the bail application of Neeraj Desai, the director of a firm that audited the footover bridge (FOB) which collapsed outside Mumbai's iconic railway station on March 14, killing seven people.
He was arrested on March 18 under section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In his bail plea, Desai had claimed the repairs that were carried out under Mumbai municipal commissioner's instruction and involved laying of heavy granite stones on the bridge had caused the incident.
He also claimed that his audit firm had carried out inventory work and the structural audit of the bridge and submitted a report containing the observations to the Mumbai civic body in December 2016.
Opposing his bail, the prosecution said that Desai had committed a wilful breach of rules and had given a positive report of the bridge despite having "knowledge" of its poor condition.
In an affidavit opposing Desai's bail plea, police had stated that he had knowledge of how to conduct structural audit of a bridge, and that he understood the importance of such audits and their impact on the lives of people.
“However, looking at the manner in which he (Desai) has carried out the present structural audit shows that it was not done with due seriousness,” it had stated.
