Morbi bridge collapse: Interim bail plea of Oreva MD Jaysukh Patel rejected

RAJKOT: The Morbi district and sessions court on Tuesday rejected the interim bail plea of Oreva Group managing director Jaysukh Patel in connection with the collapse of the British-era bridge last year.
Patel is among the 10 accused in the case who are currently in jail. He had sought 15-20 days bail to arrange for the funds to be paid as compensation to the kin of victims in order to comply with the Gujarat high court's directions.
The Gujarat high court had directed the Oreva Group to pay Rs 10 lakh as interim compensation to the kin of each deceased and Rs 2 lakh to each injured within four weeks.
The high court had rejected Oreva Group's offer of an 'interim' compensation totalling Rs 5 crore to the kin of those who lost their lives and those injured in the bridge collapse. Oreva Group was responsible for the maintenance and management of the suspension bridge which collapsed on October 30 last year killing 135 people.
The special public prosecutor in the case, S K Vora said, "We are yet to receive the detailed order. But the court rejected the interim bail application which we had also opposed."
Principal district and sessions judge P C Joshi rejected Patel's bail application considering the arguments made by the prosecution.
During arguments last week, the state government had opposed Patel's plea and said the company itself came forward with the offer to pay compensation to the victims, and it should be assumed it was ready with the financial arrangement required for the payment.
N R Jadeja, the advocate for victims' families said, "The court considered three aspects while rejecting the bail application. First, no bank statement in support of the bail application was presented in court. They did not divulge how much money was available with the company and how much they needed to arrange."
"Even in Patel's absence, the company's functioning was normal. Other directors of the company are capable of running the company and arranging the fun," he said adding that if released on bail, Patel may try to influence witnesses of the case.
Patel, who was shown as an accused in a chargesheet filed by the police, had been absconding for three months before he surrendered before a court on January 31.