Ghatkopar building collapse: Bombay HC rejects bail applications of accused

In connection with the 2017 Ghatkopar building collapse incident, the Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected bail applications of accused Sunil Shitap and interior designer Ranjeet Agale.

The High Court observed that "serious complicity has been brought on record and thus they don't deserve to be released on bail".

In the operative part of the Order, Justice AS Gadkari observed that their complicity was noticed and they don't deserve bail.

Sunil Shitap was a local Shiv Sena leader of that area and was running a nursing home at the ground floor of the building. There was a renovation work going on in the nursing home at the time of collapse.

Shitap and interior designer Angale were arrested days after the collapse under the charges of culpable homicide.

Earlier, they tried for bail from Sessions Court also in October 2017, but were denied. Later they approached the Bombay High Court, where some interveners opposed their bail pleas along with prosecution.

Eight family members of the victims of this tragedy and two flat owners had intervened against the bail applications of Shitap and Angale. Interveners were represented by lawyers Ashish Mehta and Sujay Kantawala, while accused Sunil Shitap and Ranjeet Angale were represented by Amit Desai and Ashok Mundergi in the High Court.

This is an operative order while detailed judgement will be uploaded on the court's website on Friday.

The four-storey building in Ghatkopar collapsed around 10.45 a.m. on July 25 last year in which 17 people were crushed, including two toddlers.