Hoarding crash: Bombay HC asks police to respond to ad firm director’s plea for quashing FIR

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the police to file a detailed affidavit in response to a petition of advertising firm director Bhavesh Bhinde, arrested in the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case.

Bhinde has sought that the FIR registered against him be quashed claiming that the hoarding collapse, which killed 17 persons, was an “act of God” and he is released on interim bail pending hearing of the plea. He has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha said the plea also raises the contention of illegal arrest as the mandatory notice under section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not issued to the accused first.

The bench said the police will have to clarify their stand on this as several judgments say that illegal detention necessitates immediate release.

Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar said a detailed affidavit will be filed.

The court posted the matter for further hearing on July 26.

Bhinde is the director of Ego Media Private Limited which erected the giant hoarding in the city's Ghatkopar area that collapsed on May 13 killing 17 people and injuring over 70.

Bhinde sought the FIR registered against him to be quashed claiming that the crash was an “act of God” and hence he cannot be held responsible.

Bhinde, presently in judicial custody, sought to be released on bail pending hearing of his plea.

Citing the India Meteorological Department (IMD) weather bulletin issued on May 12, Bhinde 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 on 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,” his plea said.

It further claimed that the “unexpected and unprecedented wind speeds of up to 96 kmph" caused the hoarding to collapse, an event for which neither he nor Ego Media Pvt Ltd could be held accountable.

The petition added that on the day of the collapse, several other similar incidents happened in the city due to which buildings were damaged and hundreds of trees fell down, “resulting in several casualties”.

Bhinde’s petition also referred to the collapse of a multi-storey parking lot in Wadala, in which three people were injured.

As per his plea, the hoarding was legally erected with all requisite permissions.

It claimed that the case was registered due to political pressure following the collapse and the same is “baseless, untenable, and not maintainable under the law”.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has no jurisdiction over the land on which the hoarding stood and the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was incorrectly applied, it added.

“The construction and placement of the hoarding was authorised by Government Railway Police (GRP) and accompanied by necessary ‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOCs). Considering that the hoarding was on the Railways land, no permission was required from the BMC,” the petition said.

His plea claimed that on November 22, 2022, the commissioner of police, Railways, granted the rights for the construction/erection of hoarding, to Ego Media.