October 2018 boat mishap: Mumbai court grants anticipatory bail to 3 accused

The boat was ferrying workers of a political party to the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial in the Arabian Sea, ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony

A sessions court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to the owner and two officials of a speed boat company who were booked by Colaba police for a boat mishap that had killed one person on October 24, 2018. The boat was ferrying workers of a political party to the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial in the Arabian Sea, ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony.

While granting anticipatory bail to the three, the court observed that they had co-operated with the investigators so far and the investigation was complete, and charge-sheet has been already filed in the matter.

Additional sessions judge Dr UJ More granted anticipatory bail to Aashim Mongia, owner of M/s West Coast Marine Yacht Services Pvt Ltd, and two company officials – Melwyn Braganza and Ruchit Sakharkar.

While granting anticipatory bail to the three, the court observed that they had co-operated with the investigators so far and the investigation was complete, and charge-sheet has been already filed in the matter. Thus, the custodial interrogation of the accused was not required. Besides, the court also noted that the trio had no criminal antecedents.

The state had claimed that the public works department (PWD) had hired the boats from M/s West Coast Marine Yacht Services Pvt Ltd to ferry people to the proposed site when the accident took place. The Maharashtra Maritime Board, in its detailed report, had said that boat did not have a navigational chart or Doppler log, nor were the GPS (global positioning system) and VHF (very high frequency) machine in working condition. Also, the boat should have had 24 life jackets and four buoys, which were not there.

The boat owners’ counsel Siddharth Jagusthe had claimed that the navigational chart and Doppler log are physical documents that sank due to the mishap and the GPS and VHF became non-functional as water entered the boat. The company claimed that even the victim, Siddhesh Pawar, who was a worker of Vinayak Mete-led Shiv Sangram Party, was wearing a live jacket.

While heading to the proposed site, the boat had hit an object near Prongs reef lighthouse, following which water had started entering it. Sakharkar had called for help from other boats to rescue the passengers on board, however, Pawar went missing in the incident and later, his body was found.

Colaba police had registered a case last January for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash navigation of vessel, causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others after 14 months since the incident.