Fireman booked for colleague’s death: charge ‘surprises’ Bombay HC

The Bombay high court on Tuesday expressed surprise at the charge sheet filed against a fire officer, who had been booked for negligence after his colleague died while saving a crow caught in a kite string.

The Bombay high court on Tuesday expressed surprise at the charge sheet filed against a fire officer, who had been booked for negligence after his colleague died while saving a crow caught in a kite string.

A division bench of justice Ranjit More and justice Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a petition seeking to quash the FIR lodged against the fireman, who has been in service for the past 19 years.

The petition states that in December 2014, Makrand Surve, 45, an officer-in-charge of Indira dock fire station, led a team to rescue a crow stuck in a tree’s branch at a height of 25 feet.

In the process, fireman Umesh Parvate reached the rooftop of a godown, whose asbestos sheet cracked and he fell down. He sustained several head injuries and was rushed to JJ Hospital, Marine Lines, but died on the way.

The Dongri police station registered a FIR, charging Surve with section 304A Indian Penal Code (death caused due to negligence).

The court, too, expressed surprise at the charge sheet. The court adjourned the matter for two weeks.