NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has declined to cancel the bail granted by the Gujarat High Court to an accused who had issued tickets to visitors on the day when the Morbi bridge collapsed last year, which claimed over 140 lives. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra did not agree to the submissions of the lawyer, appearing for the Tragedy Victim Association, Morbi, seeking cancellation of bail of the man.
The bench while dismissing the plea on Monday said, “He was just selling the tickets”. Tragedy Victim Association, Morbi, approached the apex court seeking cancellation of bail granted to an accused Mansukhbhai Valjibhai Topia by the High Court on June 9. The Association said the High Court wrongly granted bail to the accused.
The Gujarat High Court granted bail to the accused while taking into note the fact that the investigation was over and the charge sheet was already filed. More than 140 people died and over 100 people were injured due to the collapse of the suspension bridge over the Morbi Macchu River.
As per reports, the British-era bridge was closed for about eight months for maintenance and the repair work was being completed by a private agency. The Gujarat Police has filed a First Information Report under IPC sections 304 and 308 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) in the bridge collapse tragedy.
The Gujarat government has constituted a five-member committee headed to probe the bridge collapse incident.