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Synopsis

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti of the Supreme Court on Friday refused to set aside the bail granted to Oreva Group's Manager, who was responsible for supervising the repair work at the Morbi Bridge.

On October 30, 2022, the British-era bridge on the Machchhu River in Morbi, Gujarat, had collapsed barely a few days after its reopening following renovation.

The Gujarat High Court in November last year had granted bail to Dineshkumar Dave, the Manager. Soon after, Tragedy Victim Association Morbi approached the top court challenging the said order.

Yesterday, the Justice Sundresh led bench noted that investigation against the Oreva manager was complete and incarceration could not be indefinitely continued.

The Supreme Court in November 2022 had asked the Gujarat High Court to monitor the probe for fixing of accountability and ensuring adequate damages for victims of the Morbi Bridge collapse incident.

Earlier, a Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court comprising Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J. Shastri had registered a Suo Motu PIL in connection with the collapse of the Morbi Bridge.

The High Court took suo motu cognizance based on the News Article published by the Times of India. The Court directed the Registry to register the Suo Moto PIL through Telephonic instruction since the High court was closed on account of Diwali vacations. The registry was directed to place the matter before the division bench.

Morbi Bridge had collapsed only after a few days it was reopened to the public. Repairs and maintenance work was carried out by Oreva Company on the said bridge. The local court of Gujarat had sent four accused to judicial custody. Also, Morbi Bar Association has passed a resolution to not represent any of the accused involved in the bridge collapse before the court. 

Case Title: TRAGEDY VICTIM ASSOCIATION MORBI vs. DINESHKUMAR MANSUKHRAI DAVE AND ANR