Morbi Bridge Collapse: Gujarat High Court denies bail to Oreva Group Managing Director

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday denied bail to Jaysukhbhai Bhalodia (Patel), the Managing Director of Oreva Group, which was overseeing the maintenance and operations of the century-old suspension bridge called Julto Pul alias Morbi bridge [Jaysukhbhai Bhalodia (Patel) vs State of Gujarat]..Single-judge Justice Divyesh Joshi while denying bail to Bhalodia noted that he had made correspondence to the Collector as well as the Morbi Nagarpalika chief highlighting the fact that the bridge is old and badly in need of repairs."Therefore, at this juncture, at least, it can be said that the fact about dilapidated condition of the bridge was well within the knowledge of the applicant (Bhalodia). It is found that prima facie, he was having knowledge that this kind of unfortunate incident might occur for want of proper maintenance of the suspension bridge and even after having sufficient knowledge of the bridge's condition, despite that, he gave permission to open the bridge for public," Justice Joshi noted in the order.The Court further said that the incident could have been avoided if he would have taken timely corrective measures. "If he being the head of the company would have taken sufficient corrective measures then this kind of unforeseen incident could have been prevented and valuable and precious lives of innocent persons could have been saved," Justice Joshi underscored..In the 30-page judgment, the Court said it would not want to discuss anything on the merits and demerits of the case, since it has considered only the prima facie fact that Bhalodia was having sufficient knowledge right from the beginning about the condition of the bridge. The Court further noted the fact that the victims of the incident have already moved the Sessions Court seeking to invoke some additional charges against Bhalodia and other accused in the case. At least 135 persons died and more than 100 sustained injuries in the incident wherein the bridge suddenly collapsed on October 30 last year. Following the incident, the Gujarat High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the same and has been since then monitoring the probe in it. .Senior Advocates Nirupam Nanavaty and Jal Unwalla along with advocates Yash Nanavaty, Rahul Dholakia, Rahul Sharma and Utkarsh Dave appeared for the accused. Additional Advocate General Mitesh Amin and Additional Public Prosecutor Manan Mehta represented the State. Advocate Ronith Joy represented the Victims. .[Read Judgment]