Bombay High Court quashes case against BMC contractors

The Bombay High Court quashed and set aside a criminal case of negligence against three persons, appointed as contractors by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), for beautifying flower beds on road dividers, in Goregaon. It is alleged that they left a live wire hanging while working, causing the death of a man due to electrocution.

A division bench of Justice R M Sawant and Justice S K Shinde quashed the case registered under section 304 A (causing death by negligence) and other sections of the India Penal Code against Bhavesh Shah, Tarique Alam and Javed Akhtar. The court set aside the case and trial pending before a Borivali magistrate court after the father and brothers of the deceased gave consent for withdrawal of the case, after they were paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakh by the accused.

As per the prosecution case, last year, the brother of the complainant, Suryakant Chavan was crossing the road in Goregaon when he came in contact with a live wire and was electrocuted leading to his death. The accused who were contractors appointed to beautify the flower beds installed on the road divider had left the live wire touching the fencing, which caused the incident. Over period the parties settled the matter amicably and moved for​ quashing the case.