A Mumbai court on Saturday granted him bail Bhavesh Bhindedirector of an advertising company and the main defendant in the Ghatkopar bankruptcy case. Bhinde’s bail plea was allowed by Additional Sessions Judge VM Pathade. Order details are still to be found.
Advocate Sana Raees Khan, representing Bhavesh Bhinde, said the unfortunate incident was an “act of God” and his client was motivated by political vendetta. He said the storms that caused the incident were beyond Bhinde’s control and it was an act of nature.
Advocate Khan further said that Bhinde was not the director of the company when the company was formed. He pointed out that the land on which the site was built was owned by the railway, which means that the permission of the public authorities was not required, and all the necessary permits had been obtained. He added that the Commissioner of Railway Police has issued a tender for advertising rights in Ghatkopar.
Khan also emphasized the importance of the weather report from that day, which showed the unexpected high winds that caused the collapse. He pointed out that similar incidents happened in the past, but the cases were very few.
Prosecutors opposed Bhinde’s bail, saying there was enough evidence of his involvement.
On May 13 this year, 17 people died, including the former general manager of Air Traffic Control at Mumbai airport and his wife, when a billboard fell on a fuel pump during sudden strong winds and bad rains. Authorities say the equipment, which is suspected to have been built illegally on a railway site, lacked durability and was too large, which contributed to the disaster.
Bhinde went into hiding after the incident and was arrested on May 17 in Rajasthan, reportedly after changing his appearance. He had earlier approached the Bombay High Court, challenging his arrest, but his plea was dismissed.
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