Criminal charges against AOA members of Noida’s Paras Tierea for lift mishap death

Aside from AOA members, three officials of facility management firm and one of lift manufacturing firm also charge-sheeted for woman death in elevator accident

The Gautam Budh Nagar police has filed its charge-sheet against eight people, including four members of apartment owners’ association (AOA) of Paras Tierea society in Sector 137, in the case of an elderly woman’s death due to a lift malfunctioning at the society in August this year.

On August 3, 73-year-old Sushila Devi, a resident of Paras Tierea society, had taken the lift in Tower 24 to go from her residence on the eighth floor to the second floor, when the lift allegedly malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground, leading to the woman’s death. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

On August 3, 73-year-old Sushila Devi, a resident of Paras Tierea society, had taken the lift in Tower 24 to go from her residence on the eighth floor to the second floor, when the lift allegedly malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground, leading to the woman’s death, a complaint submitted by the woman’s son Devesh Kumar had said.

On the basis of Kumar’s complaint, an FIR was registered at the Sector 142 police station under sections 304A (death due to negligence) and 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) the same day, against eight people, including four members of the Paras Tierea AOA, three officials of the facility management firm and the lift manufacturing firm. The charge-sheet in the case was filed on October 11.

“Following a thorough investigation, the police have charged all eight individuals named in the FIR of being responsible for the death of the woman due to their collective negligence. Those named in the charge-sheet are AOA president col Ramesh Gautam, vice-president Anang Pal Chauhan, general secretary Sukhpal Singh Rana, treasurer Neetu Salar, two directors of the facility management firm, manager of facility management firm AN Secure Monik Sharma, and service customer engineer of Thyssenkrupp lift manufacturing company Omvir Singh,” said Vineet Rana, station house officer, Sector 142 police station.

He added that a total of 25 witnesses have been listed in the charge-sheet, of which nine are residents of the society.

“So far, only one arrest has taken place in this case, of AOA president col Gautam, on August 8 while a notice to appear before police has been issued to all other suspects. Summons and warrants have been issued for the first hearing scheduled for November 16, 2023. There are a total of 25 identified witnesses, and their list has been submitted to the court,” added the SHO.

AOA members said criminal charges against them set a wrong precedent.

“Noida and Greater Noida have hundreds of high-rise societies which have AOAs to maintain and govern the space. With this incident, the AOA is being made a scapegoat and criminal charges have been filed against us. While the incident was unfortunate, we will fight the case with full legal recourse and will continue to serve the residents of our society,” said Gautam.

Vice president Chauhan said, “The negligence was a part of the lift company that failed to carry out proper maintenance even after being hired and paid to do so. However, we will continue to fight the case in court.”

Other members of the AOA echoed these sentiments. General secretary Rana said, “We took over as the AOA of the society so that we can be of service to residents of the society and run the premises efficiently. Instead, we have been labelled as criminals.”

Representatives of Noida Federation of Apartment Owner’s Association (NOFAA) also said that holding AOA members criminally liable for a lift malfunction will deter residents from coming forward to volunteer to be part of the association.

“This would discourage most residents to come forward to becomes members of society governing bodies. Some kind of legal protection or safeguard needs to be there for AOA members. As it is, AOAs do not have any legal powers and being an AOA member is considered to be a “thankless job”. Now, with criminal charges lodged against AOA members, it will set a wrong precedent for other societies, which too will blame AOAs for any and every fault,” said Rajiva Singh, president of NOFAA.

Earlier on October 17, Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra approved the drafts of the proposed UP Lifts and Escalators Act, 2023, as well as Rules at a high-level meeting in Lucknow.

“After the cabinet nod, the Act and the Rules will be presented in the next session of the state assembly, after which the long-pending law will become a reality in the state,” a senior government official said, asking not to be named.

Monik Sharma, facility manager of AN Secure maintenance firm, who is also named in the charge-sheet, said, “In the contract signed between the firm and the AOA, it is clearly mentioned that the firm is only responsible for cleanliness of elevators, not maintenance. We will argue our case in the court.”

Service customer engineer of Thyssenkrupp lift manufacturing company Omvir Singh said, “I had just checked the lift a few days before the mishap and it was working fine. I do not know on what basis my name has been added in the charge-sheet.”