Delhi court refuses bail to accused in Janakpuri pit death case

A Delhi court denied bail to a laborer charged in the death of Kamal Dhyani, emphasizing his attempt to conceal the incident instead of aiding the victim.

A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the bail plea of a labourer charged over the death of 25-year-old Kamal Dhyani, who fell into an unsecured excavation pit in west Delhi’s Janakpuri along with his motorbike, noting that he consciously attempted to cover up the site instead of saving the victim.

The judge stated that what concerned the court was not the mere existence of an uncovered pit, but the deliberate conduct of the accused after he spotted the victim’s body inside the pit. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Judicial magistrate first class Harjot Singh Aujla of Dwarka Courts, passing the order, emphasised that the accused, Yogesh, prioritised informing his employer about the incident instead of first rescuing the victim and thereby, creating an impression of conscious suppression, rather than helplessness.

The court said, “The incident in question involves the loss of a young human life, not due to an act of nature, but allegedly owing to sheer apathy, omission, and post-incident concealment”.

The judge stated that what concerned the court was not the mere existence of an uncovered pit, but the deliberate conduct of the accused after he spotted Dhyani’s body inside the pit. “Prima facie, the material indicates that instead of raising alarm, seeking help, or making any sincere effort to save the victim, the applicant prioritised informing his employer and subsequently attempted to cover the site,” the court said.

The court said that it was unable to ignore the fact that the post-incident barricading carried out by Yogesh supported the apprehension of the state against him regarding tampering of evidence.

The judge said, “When such conduct is alleged to have already occurred prior to arrest, the court must exercise heightened caution while considering release on bail during ongoing investigation”.

The court said that while it empathised with the economic background of the accused and lack of a criminal antecedent, compassion could not replace an act of omission and subsequent concealment.

The court said, “The dignity of human life and the integrity of investigation demand that such matters be examined without interference”.

The court said that several witnesses were yet to be examined and the investigation was still ongoing.

Yogesh’s counsels, advocates Dhruv Sharma and Sarvagya Shrivastava, told the court that Yogesh had no knowledge that he could attract charges of culpable homicide and that his role was being exaggerated. They argued that he was being made a scapegoat due to the gross failure of higher authorities.

HT had reported earlier that in response to Yogesh’s bail plea, police had said that they suspected that he and co-accused, subcontractor Rajesh Prajapati, would have filled the pit with the victim’s body inside to cover up the incident had they possessed construction machinery at the time.

Dhyani fell into the 4.5-foot-deep pit around 12.15am on February 6 during his commute home from a Rohini call centre. The probe in the case, according to the police, revealed that he lay there for at least eight hours while at least six individuals knew of the incident but chose not to inform the police.

Sub-contractor Rajesh Kumar Prajapati and labourer Yogesh were arrested for refusing to help recover Dhyani’s body despite being aware of the incident. According to police, Yogesh informed Prajapati about the incident at 12.22am and the two then tried to hide their mistake about not placing barricades around the site.

Himanshu and Kavish Gupta, directors of the company hired by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), were reportedly informed about the incident an hour later by Prajapati but allegedly ignored the message and fled. The anticipatory bail pleas of the Gupta brothers have been rejected by both the trial court and the Delhi High Court.