Mumbai: A sessions court recently acquitted the owner and manager of a gas supply from the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The duo was booked in July 2019 after an employee, Pannalal Yadav, was killed when a cylinder, which he was handling, exploded.
The agency 'Bombay Gas Suppliers' dealt with the supply of oxygen and nitrogen gas cylinders. The prosecution argued that the deceased, who was working at the agency for 10 years, died due to the negligence of owner Rihana Shaikh, 37, and manager Vinodkumar Mishra, 57.
On July 16, 2019, at around 10 am, Yadav was unloading gas cylinders when one of them exploded. While he was killed at the spot, others sustained injuries. As per his cousin's complaint, Shaikh and Mishra did not maintain safety measures, which led to the blast.
The prosecution had examined 10 witnesses, including the agency's employee and the BMC officials, who inspected the blast site. The gas agency testified that it followed proper safety protocols. It claimed that the explosion occurred due to the negligence of a labourer and that there was no systemic failure.
The court noted that a BMC licence inspector testified that the agency violated safety regulations by storing excess gas cylinders. However, the officer could not establish a direct link between these violations and the explosion, said the court.
“It is important to note that the prosecution's case rests heavily on circumstantial evidence, which fails to form an unbroken chain pointing exclusively to the guilt of the accused,” said the order. The possibility of an alternative cause, such as accidental mishandling by the deceased or another person, cannot be ruled out, it added.
