Gujarat HC judge recuses from hearing Morbi bridge collapse accused's bail plea

Gujarat High Court judge Samir Dave on Thursday recused himself from hearing the regular bail plea of a manager of the Oreva Group who is in jail for his alleged role in the last year's Morbi bridge collapse in which 135 people were killed.

When manager Dinesh Dave's bail plea came up for hearing before Justice Samir Dave, he recused himself, saying "not before me," but didn't assign any reason for the decision.

Dinesh Dave is one of the ten accused arrested by police after a British-era suspension bridge collapsed in October last year in Morbi town of Gujarat.

As many as 135 people were killed and 56 grievously injured when the bridge, maintained and operated by Oreva Group, collapsed days after it had been reopened following repairs.

Notably, Justice Dave recently granted regular bail to five accused in the case, two booking clerks and three security guards, who were deployed on the bridge by the company.

Those who are still behind bars in the case include Jaysukh Patel, managing director of the Oreva Group; managers of the firm Dipak Parekh and Dinesh Dave; sub-contractors Prakash Parmar and Devang Parmar, who had been hired by the company for carrying out repair works on the more than 100 years old structure.

The suspension bridge over the Machchhu river in Morbi town was a popular tourist attraction and it collapsed on October 30 when more than 200 people were on it.

The Morbi police had in January filed a chargesheet in the case.

All the ten accused have been charged under Indian Penal Code section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) besides for other offences.