K'taka HC takes up suo motu PIL on Bengaluru Metro pillar collapse

Vartha Bharati | 13-01-2023 | 17:44:00 IST

Bengaluru, Jan 13: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday initiated a suo motu (on its own) public interest litigation on the death of a woman and her child due to the collapse of an under-construction Bengaluru Metro pillar pier here.

Commencing the hearing on the PIL petition, Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagri cited news reports about the accident and expressed concern.

The reinforcement cage of an under-construction pier collapsed and fell on a two-wheeler near HBR Layout here on January 10, causing the death of a woman and her child.

The court sought answers from officials concerned on the safety measures undertaken and whether tender documents specified safety measures.

It also asked whether the state government has issued orders on the safety measures and fixed the responsibility of contractors and officials involved in the construction.

The HC included the State, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) as the respondents in the case.

Notices were ordered to be issued to the respondents and the hearing was adjourned.

Tejaswini, a 28-year-old software engineer and her toddler son died in the incident while her husband and daughter escaped.

The BMRCL has sought the help of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to conduct an independent probe into the matter and also suspended its engineers involved in the construction.

An FIR has been registered against Nagarjuna Construction Company and seven others including a BMRCL deputy chief engineer and an executive engineer.

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Assam govt moves SC against anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera

13-04-2026 ¦ 13-04-2026 IST

Photo: PTI

New Delhi (PTI): The Assam government has moved the Supreme Court against the Telangana High Court order granting one-week transit anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a case registered against him for levelling allegations against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife.

The petition was filed on Sunday through advocate Shuvodeep Roy and is likely to be taken up for hearing this week.

On April 10, the high court granted one-week transit anticipatory bail to Khera.

The high court gave him a week's time to file an application before the court concerned and granted him relief with certain conditions.

"Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this court is of the view that the petitioner has made out a case for grant of limited transit anticipatory bail, as his apprehension of arrest appears to be reasonable and supported by material on record," the high court had said in its order.

The conditions were that the petitioner shall be released on bail in the event of arrest on his executing a personal bond for Rs one lakh with two sureties for the like sum each, cooperate with the investigation and make himself available for interrogation as and when required by the Investigating Officer and that he shall not leave the country without prior permission of the competent Court.

The conditions further include that the petitioner shall, within the stipulated period, approach the competent jurisdictional court in Assam and seek appropriate relief and he, being a public figure, shall exercise restraint in making any further public statements in relation to the subject matter of the present case, which may prejudice the investigation, the order said.

The Congress leader on April 5 had alleged that the Assam CM's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, has multiple passports and foreign property, which were not declared in the chief minister's election affidavit for the April 9 Assembly polls in that state.

The case against Khera was registered at the Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station under several sections of the BNS, including 175 (false statement in connection with an election), 35 (Right of private defence of the body and of property) and 318 (cheating).

Khera, who approached the high court on April 7, showed his residential address in Hyderabad. He had requested the high court to release him on bail in the event of his arrest.