Bombay HC takes suo motu cognizance of Bhiwandi building collapse which killed 41

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court took suo motu cognizance of the Bhiwandi building collapse incident in Maharashtra's Thane, which killed at least 41 people. The high court also initiated a public interest litigation in the matter.

The Maharashtra government, relevant municipal corporations and others have been made respondents in the matter. The decision was taken by a two-judge division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni.

"Deeply pained and saddened by some of the recent incidents of the collapse of residential buildings resulting in the loss of lives, we desire to initiate this suo motu public interest litigation," the bench noted.

The High Court observed that it was reported that the building was not included in the list of dangerous structures so notified by the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation.

"It is further reported that in the past three years, several notices were issued in respect of this building by the Municipal Corporation and the land owner/developer of the building, Sayyed Ahmed Jilani was called upon to get the building vacated due to its dilapidated condition.... If this is true, it is unfortunate that no action was taken by the Municipal Authorities to get the building vacated," the bench said.

As many as 41 people lost their lives while several others were injured when the three-storey building fell. The incident took place around 3:40 am on September 21 in Patel Compound of Maharashtra`s Thane district.