2001 Gujarat earthquake: Court acquits builder, contractor in building collapse case

Ahmedabad: A local court acquitted a builder and contractor of criminal charges levelled against them after one of the buildings they constructed in the Satellite area of the city collapsed during the 2001 earthquake, killing two people.According to the case details, builder Rashmin Patel and contractor Bhupendra Patel were booked by Satellite police after one of the four blocks of Sarvadarshan Apartments collapsed on the morning of Jan 26, 2001. They were charged under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 418 (cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to a person whose interest the offender is bound to protect) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC, and various provisions of the Gujarat Ownership Flats Act.In 2006, the charge of culpable homicide was dropped against them, and they were subsequently tried by a JMFC court for less serious charges.During the trial, they defended themselves by arguing that the quake was a natural disaster, not a man-made calamity. There was no negligence on their part, and the chargesheet was filed against them without any evidence.The prosecution alleged that the building plan for Sarvdarshan Apartments was approved by Auda, but the construction did not proceed in strict adherence to the approved plan. Allegations of unauthorized construction stalled the project in 1999, it was further said. The construction material used was substandard, and the accused allegedly knew about it.The court, however, did not find evidence of charges that the construction was of poor quality or that the project stalled in 1999. Although samples were collected from the debris, there was no record that a forensic analysis was done to establish that the construction material was substandard.The chief judicial magistrate at Ahmedabad rural court, J A Baxi, acquitted the builder and the contractor and said, "From all the oral evidence presented in this case, it is clear that Sarvadarshan Apartments collapsed due to the earthquake, and the construction is considered the reason for the collapse. However, there is no record showing that Bhupendra, the builder, used fewer or insufficient materials than necessary in the construction."