Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Main accused claims arrest is illegal, cites 'act of God'

The site of the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse on May 16. Pic/Atul Kamble

The main accused in the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case, Bhavesh Bhinde, has approached the Bombay High Court with a writ petition contending that his arrest is illegal. In his plea, the director of Ego Media Pvt Ltd sought to be released on bail and that the FIR against him be quashed, citing several grounds, one of which is that the May 13 incident - which resulted in 17 deaths and numerous injuries - was an act of God, and he could not be held responsible.

Bhinde referenced the Beaufort scale, an empirical measure that relates to wind speed, in his petition to support his claims. Bhinde's petition states that the IMD issued an All India Weather Summary and Forecast bulletin on May 12 around 1.45 pm. "However, the same does not in any manner mention that dust storms with gusty winds were likely to take place in Mumbai. However, on May 13 around 4.15 pm, Mumbai witnessed dust storms with gusty winds ranging from 60 kmph to 96 kmph, which were extremely unusual, severe, unexpected and never experienced before," the petition reads.

Bhavesh Bhinde, head of Ego Media Pvt Ltd

He further stated that the IMD had confirmed that a wind speed of about 96 kmph, as recorded by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) Automatic Weather Station, affected the hoarding. "On account of the aforesaid, the said hoarding collapsed and not due to improper, faulty construction of the same as wrongly, falsely alleged in the said FIR. It is pertinent to note that the Beaufort Windforce Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observe conditions at sea or on land. According to the aforesaid, wind force is classified into twelve types, wherein winds blowing at 89 kmph to 102 kmph is classified as a storm which could cause considerable structural damage and even uproot fully grown trees," the petition reads.

He further stated in his petition that the wind force of 96 kmph as stated by IMD is "unusual, severe, unexpected, never experienced before, Act of God on account of which the said hoarding collapsed unfortunately and the same was an unfortunate accident for which no fault can be attributed to the petitioner [Bhinde] or the said company Ego Media Pvt Ltd".

The site of the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse on June 12. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Bhinde also claims that on May 13, due to the excessive wind force, several other similar incidents happened in the city "wherein damages were caused to building structures and hundreds of trees fell down, due to which several casualties were reported, including two deaths. "It is also pertinent to note that a multi-storey parking lot collapsed in Wadala, leaving three people severely injured. The Wadala police station has registered an FIR dated May 13, 2024, only for the offences u/s 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of other), 338 (causing previous hurt by an act which endangers human life etc), 427 (mischief and thereby causing damage to the amount of 50 rupees or upwards ) and 34 (common intentions) of the Indian Penal Code. However, it is only to implicate the petitioner in the present case, Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) has been added," the petition reads.

‘FIR is baseless'

Talking about the alleged illegal nature of the hoarding as claimed in the FIR, Bhinde stated that the FIR was absolutely baseless, untenable, and not maintainable under the law. "Section 304 of the IPC has been added to the FIR on the grounds that the hoarding was constructed without any permission, without obtaining a structural stability report, and with the intention or knowledge that such a construction could lead to the loss of human life and property," it reads. However, Bhinde argued that the hoarding was constructed "pursuant to advertisement rights and with permission obtained from the Commissioner of Police, Railways". He further stated that the civic body had no jurisdiction to grant permission, regulate or charge a licence fee for the hoarding. Therefore, the FIR was allegedly motivated, false, and baseless, registered with the intention to make Bhinde a scapegoat due to political pressure following the collapse.

The site of the billboard collapse on May 15. Pic/Shadab Khan

"The hoarding was placed and construction was done after getting approval from the GRP and after obtaining all required NOCs, the approval from the BMC was not needed as per the legal opinion taken by GRP from retired Bombay high court judge and the law firm as well as the legal officer of the GRP," the petition reads.

According to Bhinde, the commissioner of police, Railways, Mumbai, by an allotment on November 22, 2022, granted the rights for construction/erection of hoarding, to Ego Media "on the terms and conditions as mentioned therein."

Bhavesh Bhinde, head of Ego Media

Furthermore, the commissioner of police, Railways by a letter dated December 19, 2022, "gave permission for display of advertisements, gave no objection certificate for obtaining electricity meter, thereby allotted 33,800 sq ft total area for construction of hoarding/display of advertisements, for a period of 10 years on payment of rent as mentioned therein, in brief, that structure was erected in pursuance of the permission from the commissioner of Police, Railways".

He also stated that when the hoarding was constructed, he was not the director of Ego Media. Janhavi Marathe was the director at the time and he took over on December 21, 2023.

May 13
Day the hoarding collapsed

17
Hoarding collapse death toll