Kovai wall collapse: House owner granted bail

Justice N Seshasayee, on allowing the bail application moved by S Sivasubramanian, also directed him to produce two sureties worth Rs 1 lakh each as a bail requisite.

Sivasubramanian had contended in his bail plea that he had not constructed the compound wall imagining that it would harm anyone. Arguing on his behalf, his counsel had submitted that none would want to put their life in danger by putting up a weak construction in their residential quarters.

“The fury of nature was such that even a well-constructed compound wall would give away. But to connect a case of an accident to culpable homicide not amounting to murder is highly illegal,” the counsel argued.

However, the counsels appearing for the government as well as the relatives of victims who had roped themselves as intervenors in the case, stoutly opposed any grantof bail.

Sivasubramanian has been booked for offences under Section 304(2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC and Section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act.

On December 2, a portion of the over 15-foot-high compound wall of Sivasubramanian’s building, damp from the heavy rains that lashed the area for the previous few days, came crashing down on the adjoining four tiled-roof houses in Nadur village, over 50 km from Coimbatore, around 5 am, killing 17 Dalits, including women and children.

In view of the Christmas holidays for both the Principal Seat at Madras and the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court from December 25 to January 1, the Vacation Bench will sit at both the places on December 30 to dispose of only urgent matters. Registrar General C Kumarappan, in a statement, said that Justices S Vaidyanathan, V Parthiban, M Govindaraj, G R Swaminathan, Justice P T Asha, M Nirmalkumar and B Pugalendhi will sit at the Principal Seat at Madras as vacation judges. At the Madurai Bench, Justices P Velmurugan, R Tharani and T Krishnavalli will sit, the statement said. It also noted that notice of any application of urgent matters alone should be presented along with papers to the vacation officers on December 27 before 1.30 pm and for bail petitions, the lower court bail order should be enclosed along with the petitions.