Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Statue Collapse Case: Bombay HC Grants Bail To Consultant Chetan Patil

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to consultant Chetan Patil who was arrested in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s 28-feet statue in Malvan, which collapsed in August.

On August 26, the statue erected at Rajkot Fort in Malvan collapsed. The statue was inaugurated on December 4 last year by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. The 28-feet statue was erected on a 12-feet pedestal at the cost of Rs 2.44 crore. Patil was arrested on August 30 from Kolhapur.

While granting bail to Patil, Justice AS Kilor noted that no case was made out to implicate Patil in the case as he had not been appointed as the structural designer of the statue. Patil had only submitted a structural stability report of the pedestal of the statue and the pedestal was intact even after the collapse.

During inspection on August 20, PWD officers found that the nuts and bolts used to fix the status on the pedestal were rusted.

The Sindhudurg police had also arrested Jaydeep Patil, the sculptor and contractor. At present he is in judicial custody. He has also filed a bail plea before the HC which will be heard on November 25. Initially, he sought bail from the sessions court at Oros, which was rejected on October 1. Hence he approached the HC.

Apte, proprietor of M/s Artistry, said he made the bronze statue on the basis of the work order issued on September 8, 2023 by the Naval Dockyard. His plea contended that the Naval Dockyard authority never complained of any artistic deficiency or shortcomings. Also, the FIR was registered within nine hours of the falling of the status by officers of the PWD, who have no technical expertise in metallurgy.

Moreover, the FIR does not allege any person getting injured over the falling of the statue. At the most, it could be a case of negligence.

An FIR was lodged by officers of the Public Works Department (PWD) with the local police under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.