Court rejects bail plea of CSMT bridge auditor

Mumbai: A Sessions court Monday for the second time rejected the bail application filed by Neeraj Desai, director of the firm that had carried out the structural audit of the Himalaya Bridge at CSMT which collapsed, killing seven people and injuring several others. Public prosecutor Mangesh Arote said that Judge S.M. Azmi had rejected the bail plea filed by Mr Desai.

Mr Desai filed the second bail plea after a charge-sheet was filed against him. He sought bail on grounds that there was nothing to be discovered or recovered at his instance. He also contended that the FOB collapsed without any distress signal or visible signs. He blamed the repairs of the bridge carried out by another company at the behest of the BMC and claimed that these repairs were only cosmetic.

He further claimed that heavy granite stones - approximately 14 tonnes of rough granite stone slabs of size 25-30mm - were laid on the bridge, increasing the load on the bridge and leading to gradual failure.

According to him, the entire refurbishment was carried out without checking the load carrying capacity of the bridge. He said that his company was not informed about the repair and refurbishment work being undertaken.