Vadodara manhole death: VMC booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder

Assistant Commissioner of Police, F Division, Pranav Kataria told The Indian Express that the FIR had been lodged primarily against the owners of the agency, based on the complaint of Zala’s wife even as the probe was underway to ascertain if more accused were responsible for the “negligence” that led to the fatal incident.

Kataria said, “We have lodged an FIR at Manjalpur police station and summoned the owners of the agency contracted by the VMC to appear for probe. However, they are currently untraceable… the probe is also on to ascertain if any other person in a direct or supervisory role was responsible for the incident. Primarily, there has been negligence as the drain chamber was left open without any caution or barricade.”

The incident took place on December 26 when Zala, the son of a retired Gujarat police officer, had gone out with his family for dinner and went ahead to park his vehicle near the site of the accident. When he did not return, his family began a search and found him in the open drainage chamber. The fire and emergency services were immediately called but Zala was declared dead on arrival at a hospital. Primary probe, police officials said, has revealed that there was no warning sign near the open chamber, which had been left uncovered after the work had been completed.

Congress memorandum

The Vadodara city unit of the Congress on Tuesday handed over a memorandum to the Vadodara Commissioner of Police seeking filing of FIR against the VMC Commissioner, elected corporators, HODs, engineers and contractors. In the memorandum, the Opposition party cited the recent judgement of the Gujarat High Court in an appeal of the VMC against Mominaben Malbhai Ghaniwala, in a 2007 case of death of a citizen due to cattle attack on a city road.

The Congress said, “Justice M K Thakker of the Gujarat HC has held the VMC 70% liable for road fatality due to wilful negligence in public safety maintenance, applying res ipsa loquitur (law of torts)… Inaction in maintaining public road safe for users clearly reflects wilful negligence– identical facts are present in the (Manjalpur case) of excavation hazards, absent safety… Had the Municipal Commissioner implemented this judgment, it would have prevented Zala’s death.”

The Congress also pointed out in its memorandum that the elected BJP Corporators of Ward 18 did not visit the family of the deceased but instead were “seen speaking negatively against the family in media clips”.

The Congress party was referring to the December 17 judgment, in which the Gujarat High Court dismissed the appeal of the VMC in a judgement and decree of March 31, 2018, of the 7th Additional Senior Civil Judge of the Vadodara court in a Special Civil Suit filed by the family of a man, Makbul Gaffar Ghaniwala who had been killed in September 2007 near Utkarsh Petrol Pump area of Karelibaug when a stray bull rushed onto the road and struck the deceased with its horns, as a result of which, he fell from his motorcycle and sustained serious head injuries. Ghaniwala died after 53 days of hospitalization and subsequent discharge as “his condition did not improve”.

The VMC, in its appeal, had contended that the accident in question occurred “solely due to the rash and negligent driving of the deceased himself” whereas the (Civil court) had attributed 70% “contributory negligence to the present appellant (which) is wholly unsustainable in law and on facts”.

VMC Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu was unavailable for comment.