AHMEDABAD: Six months after their arrests in connection with the Morbi suspension bridge collapse tragedy, three security guards got bail from the Gujarat high court on Thursday.
Justice Samir Dave granted bail to Alpesh Gohil, Dilip Gohil and Mukesh Chauhan after the state government submitted that these three persons were discharging their duty as security personnel at the suspension bridge. Public prosecutor Mitesh Amin submitted, "According to the investigator, the principal liability appears to be of the owners of the company (Oreva Group) and those who performed the job of fabrication at the bridge."
He further submitted that considering the job profile of these three accused persons, the court may decide on their bail applications.
For the accused, senior advocate B B Naik submitted that there are 10 accused persons in this case and these three accused were working as labourers with Oreva Group, but because of the Diwali holidays, they were deployed at the bridge as security guards.
When Justice Dave said that he was allowing the bail pleas, the prosecutor requested the court to make observation in its order that the co-accused, who according to the prosecution face grave charges, may not be granted the benefit of parity, as they too would be approaching the court claiming the benefit of parity.
The chargesheet filed in the Morbi bridge collapse case named Jaysukh Patel, Oreva Group’s CMD, as the main accused in the case. His bail was denied by a sessions court in Morbi.
135 persons were killed in the accident that took place on October 30, 2022.
