Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: HC dismisses Bhavesh Bhinde’s plea for release from jail

Bombay High Court dismisses Bhavesh Bhinde's plea for immediate release; he is accused in Ghatkopar hoarding collapse that killed 17, injured 74.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Bhavesh Bhinde, one of the main accused in the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case, seeking his immediate release from jail.

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Bhinde was the director of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, the advertising firm that had erected the massive illegal hoarding in Ghatkopar East that collapsed on a petrol pump during a spell of heavy rain on May 13, killing 17 people and injuring 74 others. His petition claimed that his arrest was illegal.

The Mumbai police had arrested Bhinde on May 17 from a hotel in Udaipur. From there, he was taken to Ahmedabad by road and then brought to Mumbai by a flight.

Advocate Rizwan Merchant, appearing for Bhinde, argued before a bench of justice Bharti Dangre and justice Manjusha Deshpande that the police held Bhinde in illegal custody while transporting him from Udaipur to Mumbai. He also argued that the police had not furnished the grounds of his client’s arrest in writing and, therefore, the arrest was vitiated.

Bhinde also sought to quash the FIR registered against him on the grounds that the collapse of the hoarding during heavy rain and gusty winds was an “act of God” and not his fault.

Public prosecutor Hiten Vengaonkar opposed the petition, contending that the police had followed all the required procedures while arresting the accused. Bhinde was also handed the grounds of arrest before being taken into custody, Vengaonkar said. The prosecution added that Bhinde was staying at a hotel in Udaipur under a different name to evade arrest.

The court dismissed the petition, saying it didn’t find any merit in the petitioner’s arguments. “We find no legal infirmity. The ground of illegal arrest and detention by the petitioner is nothing but a faux. There is no impairment in the procedure.”