Bridge Collapse Cases Pending Since 2009: Jharkhand High Court Orders 3-Month Deadline For Police To Complete Probe

A Division Bench of Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Manoj Prasad was hearing a PIL seeking an inquiry into the reasons for the collapse of several bridges in Jharkhand and action against officials allegedly responsible.

The petitioner relied primarily on an audit report of the Principal Accountant General, Ranchi, alleging structural deficiencies and financial irregularities in the construction of the bridges. The petitioner also sought action against Birendra Ram, who was serving as Engineer-in-Chief in the Rural Development Department and had earlier been Chief Engineer, Special Division during the period when the bridges collapsed.

The Court noted that the bridge collapses had already been investigated through departmental inquiries and external technical evaluations by independent experts, including BIT Mesra. Action had also been initiated against officials across different ranks, contractors had been blacklisted, FIRs had been registered wherever criminal acts were indicated, and damaged bridges had been repaired or reconstructed. The petitioner had not demonstrated that these inquiries were superficial or suffered from any specific infirmity warranting a fresh investigation.

However, the Bench separately expressed concern over the delay in the criminal investigations, noting that FIRs relating to bridge collapses in Dhanbad, Palamau and Gumla had been registered between 2009 and 2015, but the investigations remained pending. The Court observed:

“However, before parting, one aspect requires our definite and focused consideration. The FIRs relating to the bridge collapses in Dhanbad, Palamau and Gumla were registered between 2009 and 2015, yet the investigations in these cases remain pending to date. While we choose not to attribute deliberate inertia to the shoulders of the police officials, the length of the investigation period, in no uncertain terms, startles us. Leaving criminal investigations pending for over a decade serves neither the administration of justice nor the parties' rights and severely erodes the State's remedial actions.”

The Bench further noted that the right to speedy investigation is an integral facet of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21. It, inter alia, accordingly directed the Superintendents of Police of Dhanbad, Palamau and Gumla to ensure that the pending investigations were completed expeditiously and final reports under Section 173 CrPC were submitted before the jurisdictional courts, preferably within three months.

Separately, the Court refused the petitioner's prayer seeking removal of Birendra Ram from the post of Engineer-in-Chief. It held that decisions concerning the posting, suspension or administrative deployment of a public servant ordinarily fall within the domain of the State as employer. The Court also noted that the petitioner had not demonstrated any statutory provision making his continued posting illegal.

The Bench accordingly declined to assume a supervisory role over the executive's decision concerning his posting, while directing the concerned police authorities to complete the long-pending bridge collapse investigations within the stipulated period.

The petition was accordingly disposed of with these directions.

Appearance:
For the Petitioner: Mr Rajeev Kumar, Advocate; Mrs Niteshwari Kumari, Advocate

For the State: Mr Vibhor Mayank, A.C. to A.G.

For the ITD: Mr Kumar Vaibhav, Sr. S.C.; Mr Durgesh Agarwal, Advocate

For the ED: Mr Amit Kumar Das, Sr. Advocate; Mr Saurav Kumar, Advocate