Order reserved on mill owners’ bail plea

Mumbai: The vacation bench of the Bombay high court on Tuesday reserved order on bail application filed by Ramesh Gowani, owner of Kamala mills and Ravi Bhandari, the director of Kamla mills till Wednesday. The court reserved order on bail pleas after the lawyers completed their arguments.

Advocates Avinash Gupta and Shyam Dewani have contended before the court that both the applicant's had nothing to do with the incident and the police have arrested them due to pressure. It was contended before the court that the fire broke out in two pubs that resulted in deaths but applicant’s are owner and director of the land and have nothing to do with day-to-day operations of establishments operating in the compound.

They also contended that they were not aware of the illegal alterations made in the structure and section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) was not applicable on the case and other sections are bailable and hence they should be granted bail.Special public prosecutor Prakash Shetty and advocate Lakshmi Raman, on behalf of one of the victim family, opposed the bail plea.

Advocate Shetty contended that the applicant's were very much aware of the illegal structural changes made in their properties and hence they are equally responsible for the incident. Advocate Raman argued that as per clause 12 of the leave and licence agreement the owners of pubs cannot make any structural changes without permission from applicants After hearing arguments Justice V L Achilya reserved order on bail pleas of both the persons till Wednesday.