HC Grants Bail To Five In SBL Blast Case, Rejects Pleas Of Six Others

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on Saturday granted bail to five of the 11 accused arrested in connection with the SBL's Raulgaon unit blast that claimed 26 lives.Those granted bail include Roshan Raut, Rajendra Pardhi, Sudhakar Uparkar, Pankaj Pande, and Nilkamal Dongre. The remaining six accused — Chandramohan Rajwade, Vilas Malwe, Sandeep Solanki, Pradeep Sharma, Ravi Kamra and Rakesh Tiwari — were denied relief, though the order did not elaborate in open court on distinctions among their individual roles.The explosion occurred on March 1 within the company premises. Investigators have attributed the tragedy to major lapses in safety protocols.According to police findings and reports from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) as well as the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), the facility lacked adequate risk assessment mechanisms, had insufficient firefighting systems, failed to appoint the required number of safety officers, and did not provide proper training to workers.All 11 accused had approached the high court after a sessions court rejected their bail applications. Counsel Chinmay Dharmadhikari, Advait Manohar, and Aditya Chaudhary represented the accused.Separately, arguments commenced on Saturday in anticipatory bail pleas filed by eight absconding accused in the same case. The court has scheduled the next hearing in that matter for April 22.# Key Takeaways:Nagpur bench grants bail to five accused in SBL blast case; six pleas rejectedExplosion on March 1 killed 26 workers, raising serious safety concernsAuthorities cite lack of risk assessment, poor firefighting systems, and inadequate trainingReports by Industrial Safety Department and PESO highlight multiple violationsAll 11 accused approached high court after sessions court rejectionAnticipatory bail pleas of eight absconding accused under hearingNext hearing in anticipatory bail matter scheduled for April 22Case underscores regulatory lapses in hazardous industries