Kamala Mills fire: HC rejects bail pleas of pub owners

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court Thursday rejected the bail pleas of the owners of two eateries in central Mumbai’s Kamala Mills compound which were gutted in a fire last December in which 14 people were killed and many injured.

Justice Prakash Naik Thursday dismissed the bail applications filed by Yug Pathak, owner of Mojo Bistro, and the owners of 1Above pub – Kripesh Sanghavi, Jigar Sanghavi and Abhijit Mankar.

The four accused were arrested in January and are currently in judicial custody. In February, the police filed its charge sheet against 12 accused, including owners of the two restaurants where the fire broke out, owner of the Kamala Mills compound and BMC officials.

The 12 accused have been named in the charge sheet under sections of IPC including those for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing grievous hurt by act endangering life and personal safety of others. In April, the high court had rejected the bail plea of Yug Tuli, co-owner of Mojo Bistro.

In May, the high court granted bail to Ramesh Gowani and Ravi Bhandari – owners of Kamala Mills compound – after observing that they cannot be held liable for acts of the restaurant owners.