The director of Ego Media, which erected the giant hoarding in Ghatkopar that killed 17 people and injured more than 70, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the FIR against him.
Bhavesh Bhinde has contended that the collapse was an ‘Act of God’ and hence he cannot be held responsible. Bhinde is at present in judicial custody and has sought bail pending hearing in his quashing petition.
The plea contends that the hoarding, which collapsed, was legal and he had necessary permission for erecting the same. It contends that the BMC has no jurisdiction over the land on which hoarding stood and the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was incorrectly applied. Bhinde has alleged that the FIR was registered due to political pressure following the collapse and the same is “baseless, untenable, and not maintainable under the law”.
The construction and placement of the hoarding was authorised by Government Railway Police and accompanied by necessary ‘no objection certificates’. Considering that the hoarding was on railways land, no permission was required from the BMC.
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Further, Bhinde has claimed that he was not a director of Ego Media at the time of the hoarding’s construction. Janhavi Marathe was the director then and he took charge on December 21, 2023.
Citing the India Meteorological Department bulletin issued on May 12, Bhinde has claimed that the collapse was an Act of God. The IMD bulletin failed to predict the severe dust storms with gusty winds that hit Mumbai the fateful day. “On account of the aforesaid, the said hoarding collapsed and not due to improper, faulty construction of the same as wrongly, falsely alleged in the said FIR,” the plea contends.
The unexpected and unprecedented wind speeds of up to 96kmph caused the hoarding’s collapse, an event for which neither he nor Ego Media could be held accountable.
Due to the excessive wind force on May 13, several other similar incidents happened in the city due to which buildings were damaged and hundreds of trees fell down, resulting in several casualties. The plea also referred to the collapse of a multi-storey parking lot in Wadala, in which three people were injured.
His plea claims that on November 22, 2022, the commissioner of police, railways, granted the rights for construction / erection of hoarding, to Ego Media.
Bhinde’s plea will come up for hearing in due course of time.
