Shikhar’s builder recalls application

Builder of the infamous Shikhar Apartment Satish Shah withdrew his criminal miscellaneous application from the Gujarat highighcourt seeking the quashing of the criminal charges leveled against him.

The petitioner withdrew his application on Friday morning, which was scheduled for final hearing. The advocate appearing for the petitioner informed the single judge AK. Trivedi that the petitioner intended to withdraw the application.

Block D of The Shikhar Apartment, a 10-storeyed structure situated in Vejalpur, collapsed during the massive tremor on the Republic Day leaving about 98 persons dead and several others injured. A criminal complaint was registered against the petitioner Satish Nehalchand

Shah at the Satellite police station. Shah is the developer of the Shikhar Apartment. Section 304, Section 120(B) and Section

420 of the Indian Penal Code were leveled against him. Offences under the Gujarat Flat Owner’s Act were also booked against him.

The petition had alleged in the application that the FIR was baseless, founded on presumptions and must be quashed and set aside.

The petition had alleged that the criminal complaint was filed without any technical knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon of earthquake and its effects. Satish Shah had said in his application that the Geratpur Bhagyalakshmi Cooperative Housing Society commissioned him as the developer of Shikhar Apartment, to be built for residential purposes. He had said that his job was the purchase and procurement of the building material as well as the technical expertise and thus he had dissociated himself from the responsibility of the construction activity of the building.

The petitioner also challenged the penal sections 304 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code levelled against him.

It may be recalled that two builders of Surabhi Apartment near Sola overbridge on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway and Ayodhya Apartment in the Vejalpur-Satellite area had already withdrawn their applications of anticipatory bail from the high court recently.

The anticipatory bail application of the builder of the Balaji Gold Apartment in Bopal area is till pending in the high court.

Republished from Asian Age