HC relief to 3 ind directors, but denies bail to 5 others

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to three accused in connection with the devastating explosion at SBL Energy Ltd plant in Raulgaon in Nagpur district last month that killed at least 26 people, while rejecting similar relief to five others.Though the court allowed pre-arrest bail applications of independent directors Ravindra Pokharna, Satyavati Parashar and Manoj Kumar Prasad, it refused relief to senior executives Kedar Pachputre, Alok Awasthi, Shravan Kumar, Alok Chaudhary and Sanjay Chaudhary, indicating that the nature of allegations and material on record did not warrant protection from arrest in their cases.During the hearing before Justice Rajnish Vyas, the defence argued for protection from arrest, while the prosecution opposed the pleas, citing severity of negligence and its fatal consequences. After evaluating submissions, the court granted partial relief, allowing anticipatory bail to three applicants while declining it for the remaining five. Lawyers Amol Mardikar, Aditya Chaudhary represented accused.The explosion, which occurred on March 1, is among deadliest industrial accidents in recent years, raising concerns at both state and national levels about enforcement of industrial safety norms. According to police investigations, the company was allegedly in "serious violation of safety standards," a finding corroborated by reports from Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation.These reports highlighted multiple lapses, including absence of risk assessment, inadequate firefighting systems, failure to appoint safety officers and lack of proper training for workers. Authorities linked these deficiencies directly to the scale of the disaster. TNN