The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the bail granted to a man, who was the ticket issuing person at the Morbi bridge on October 30, 2021, when it collapsed, leading to the death of around 140 persons.
The three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra on Monday refused to entertain the Special Leave Petition filed under Article 136 of the Constitution by the Tragedy Victim Association, Morbi on the grounds that the person was ‘just’ selling tickets.
On June 6, 2023, the High Court of Gujarat had granted regular bail to Mansukhbhai Valjibhai Topia, the ticket issuing person at the Morbi bridge, at a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and one surety of the like amount.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Samir J. Dave took into account the fact that the investigation was over and a charge sheet was filed and hence, the continued judicial custody of the accused was not required.
Justice Dave further noted that since the accused was a ticket-issuing personnel employed by a company, this was a fit case to exercise the discretion and enlarge the applicant on regular bail.
The lawyer appearing for Topia argued that the accused jumped into the river to save people and himself suffered injuries during the incident.
While acknowledging that it was the duty of the accused to manage the crowd, the Counsel asserted that the ‘unprecedented’ crowd had suddenly gone out of control in the festive season.
However, the Counsel appearing for the state contended that the accused had issued an excessive number of tickets without conducting proper assessments of the hanging bridge’s strength, stability and capacity.
He said the negligence of the accused played a pivotal role in the incident. He further urged the High Court not to show leniency towards the accused as the same would undermine the gravity of the alleged negligence and the concerns of public safety.