Kollam temple fire: Kerala HC grants bail to 41 accused including fireworks contractor, workers

All the 41 accused in the Puttingal temple fireworks mishap, one of the worst tragedies to hit the south Indian state of Kerala, have walked out of prison on Monday, with no eyebrows raised. As many as 114 people were killed and 383 injured in the devastating fire that engulfed the 100-year-old temple complex at Paravur in Kollam district during the unauthorised display of fireworks, in connection with the annual festival of the temple on 10 April. The Kerala High Court granted bail to all the accused, including 15 members of the managing committee of the temple, the fireworks contractor and his workers, after the police failed to file the chargesheet in the case within the mandatory period of 90 days. With this the number of people who have been granted bail by the court in the case has gone up to 43. The court had granted bail to two accused earlier stating that they had no active role in causing the explosion. They had only sold some substance to contractors one or two months back, the court observed. [caption id=“attachment_2731886” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The aftermath of the fire at Puttingal Devi Temple in Kollam. AFP[/caption] Accepting the bail application of 41 accused, on Monday, Justice P Ubaid noted that the police had not filed the chargesheet in the case, even after 91 days had passed after the incident. The court granted them bail on the condition that they will surrender their passports and will not leave the state. Kollam-based lawyer Benoy Balakrishnan said that the delay will be construed deliberate as the police and district administration were blamed by many for their failure to avert the tragedy. A commission appointed by the central government to probe the mishap blamed both equally responsible for the calamity. The commission felt that the tragedy could have been averted if they had taken effective steps to prevent the temple committee from carrying out the fireworks on a competitive scale, after the additional district magistrate denied permission for the event. Benoy told Firstpost that the investigating team had dilly-dallied the investigation even after the high court had taken a serious view of the incident. At one point, the high court had even considered handing over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court had also asked the police to explore the possibility of invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the accused, as storing large quantity of explosives without authorisation had caused terror in the minds of the people. Justice Ubaid observed that causing terror in the minds of the public using explosives could be construed as an offence that falls under UAPA. The counsels for the accused had opposed application of the anti-terror law in the case by arguing that UAPA could not be invoked, as the case did not involve any act of terror or other similar offences. Though the prosecution had agreed to convey the suggestion to the chief of the investigation team, the police stuck to Section 302 (attempt to murder) that they imposed on the accused earlier. Benoy said that the police might have taken the case easy after media and the political parties went after the Jisha murder case. The opposition parties pursued the brutal rape and murder of the Dalit law student at Perumbavoor in Erankulam district as it was more volatile and electorally rewarding. “The police had taken the case seriously after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and a host of union ministers and central leaders of various made a beeline to Paravur. The victims were completely forgotten after the election. Most of them are now struggling with serious after effects of the huge explosion without any help from any quarters,” Benoy said. Though the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front government that assumed office after the polls attributed police callousness in the investigation, for the removal of the then Director General of Police TP Senkumar, the government apparently did not make any effort either to put the investigation back in its track or to provide relief to the hundreds of victims. The government had even accused Senkumar of protecting the delinquent officers. The former DGP has denied the charge. In his petition before the Central Administrative Tribunal, the senior IPS officer alleged that the government was trying to cook up reasons for removing him in violation of the Supreme Court directives. A senior police officer involved in the investigation said the delay in filing the chargesheet was not deliberate. He said that filing the chargesheeet within the minimum period was tough in this case as there were 43 accused, and more than 100 witnesses. The statements of the accused and witnesses run into at least 2,000 pages. As each of the accused has to be given a copy of the final report, the investigating team needed to take at least one lakh copies. This, he said, was laborious and time consuming. He claimed that the delay in filing the chargesheet was natural. The mishap had created outrage in Kerala because the fireworks display was conducted in blatant violation of all the safety norms. Though the additional district magistrate had rejected permission for the display, the police turned a blind eye to the direction apparently under pressure from politicians. It is said that the Kollam Police Commissioner had given silent permission to temple authorities to go ahead with the event after an MP belonging to the Congress batted for the temple committee. However, what prevented him from ensuring that the temple committee followed the safety norms is still not clear. The mishap had evoked a strong demand for a ban on such fireworks during festivals and other ceremonies. Though the high court initiated a move to discourage the practice of conducting fireworks displays in connection with festivals and public ceremonies by banning the use of high-decibel crackers, the political parties defended them saying they were part of the state’s tradition and culture. An all-party meeting convened by the then United Democratic Front (UDF) government to consider a total ban on fireworks displays felt it would offend the religious and cultural sentiments of the people. The parties emphasised that fireworks were an integral part of festivals for all types of people.