Madhya Pradesh court clears temple trust officials in stepwell disaster that took 36 lives
The Indore district and sessions court Thursday cleared two individuals who are part of the trust of illegally constructing a temple due to insufficient evidence, two years after 36 devotees perished when the structure's stepwell collapsed. Sewaram Galani, who is the head of the Shri Baleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust which oversees the temple in Indore, and secretary
The Indore district and sessions court on Thursday acquitted two individuals connected with the trust of illegally built temple due to insufficient evidence, two years after 36 devotees perished when the structure’s stepwell collapsed.
Sewaram Galani, the president of the Shri Baleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust that operates the temple in Indore, and secretary Murli Kumar Sabnani were acquitted following a finding by the court of negligence on the part of the police to establish their role in the March 2023 incident, defence lawyer Raghavendra Singh Bais said.
On March 30, 2023, a temple constructed over an old, shut stepwell at Shri Baleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple in Sarvoday Nagar, Indore, collapsed during a religious ceremony for Ramnavmi, and 54 individuals fell into the stepwell. Of them, 36 were killed and others injured.
“Judge Jitendra Singh Kushwaha held the police were not able to establish the charges of ‘culpable homicide, not amounting to murder’ brought against the accused,” said defence attorney Raghavendra Singh Bais.
The applicants, Galani and Sabnani of the temple trust, organized the function even though they were aware the base of the stepwell was in need of repairs, said the prosecution.
At about 11:40 am, when a ‘hawan’ was attended by many devotees, the foundation collapsed. Following an inquiry, an FIR was registered against the applicants on March 31, 2023, at Juni Police Station, Indore.
The prosecution had contended that the applicants were “well aware that the temple was in a dilapidated state, due to which it is being renovated, despite that, applicants allowed people to assemble for taking part in Hawan,” Bains said.
Conversely, Bains contended that on April 23, 2022, the Building Officer, Zone-18, issued a notice, and the temple management replied on April 25, 2022, in unambiguous terms that the temple and stepwell were in a dilapidated condition and required restoration. No action was taken by the authorities despite repeated requests to the Indore Municipal Corporation, he contended.
