After being denied bail, Kamala Mills co-owner moves SC to challenge arrest
Ravi Bhandari was arrested on January 21 in connection with the Kamala Mills blaze
Kamala Mills co-owner Ravi Bhandari on Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging his arrest in connection with a blaze that claimed 14 lives in December last year.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked Ravi Bhandari to send a copy of his petition to the Maharashtra government and posted the matter for further hearing on March 27.
Bhandari’s lawyer, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, told the bench that his client’s arrest was illegal detention and he could not be booked for the offense of culpable homicide.
He cited the Bhopal gas tragedy and Uphaar cinema hall fire cases, both cases of negligence, in which the apex court had held that the offense was bailable.
Bhandari was forced to move SC after the Bombay High Court recently dismissed his bail application.
He was arrested in January along with fire officer Rajendra Patil and Utkarsh Pandey, who supplied hookahs to the pubs Mojos Bistro and 1 Above where the fire started.
The trio had been called to the N M Joshi Marg police station for questioning, following which they were arrested. All three are currently in judicial custody.
14 people were killed and over 50 were injured when a fire broke out at the two pubs in the Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel on December 29 last year.
