The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had recommended booking Yusuf Memon (58) and son Irfan (33) under the Mumbai Regional Town Planning Act,a day before the collapse of Yusuf Building. They are now being held responsible for the collapse. During the hearing of their anticipatory bail application on Saturday,the prosecution said the BMC had recommended action against Memon and Irfan,the ground floor owners of the building,for carrying out illegal structural changes. They have now been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. An 85-year-old woman,Zubeida Khambathi,was killed and five others were hurt in the mishap. The Memons,who run a shop on the ground floor,said in their plea that the building had outlived its age and had collapsed on its own. In March,the staircase leading to the upper floors collapsed after which the applicants decided to erect a protective wall to shield their shop from further collapse, it said,adding the building owner had then lodged a complaint with MHADA and BMC. The police,in its reply,said the staircase did not collapse on its own,but was felled by the Memons. The BMC had issued a show-cause notice to them in March. An engineer had visited the site and asked them to stop construction. The court will consider the application on Monday.
