Bldg collapse: HC allows Sena's Shitap to withdraw bail plea

The Bombay High Court today permitted Shiv Sena member Sunil Shitap, an accused in the Ghatkopar building collapse, to withdraw his bail plea from the court and approach the trial court again.
Seventeen people were killed when the building collapsed in July.
Shitap had moved the high court earlier this month after a trial court rejected his plea.
His bail was rejected on August 25 after the inquiry report of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) pinned much of the blame for the incident on him.
Justice Revati Mohite-Dere allowed Shitap to withdraw his bail from the high court and approach the trial court again after the prosecution today informed the bench that a charge sheet in the case had been filed on September 22.

Thus, considering this change in circumstance, Shitap must approach the trial court again for bail, the high court bench said.
The BMC's inquiry report had revealed that Shitap had carried out unauthorised renovation work at the Siddhi Sai building that subsequently led to the collapse.
In his bail plea, however, Shitap claimed that he had been implicated in the case by his political rivals.