“We were able to convince the session court to extend the privilege of pre-arrest bail to the petitioners “says Top Defence Counsel A. Srivastava
The Muzaffarpur Hon’ble Sessions Court Judge granted bail to the directors of M/s. Anshul Snacks and Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Viz. Vikas Modi and his wife Shweta Modi in connection with the Boiler blast case that had occurred last year on December 26. It was reported that seven people died, and four others sustained injuries in the accident, which took place in the noodle-making factory located in Bela Industrial Area, Phase-II, Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Subsequently, FIR was registered against the director Vikas Modi and six others based on the statement of regional in-charge of Industrial area, Mr Prashant Kumar, Muzaffarpur. The co-accused included the names of Vikas Modi’s wife, Shweta Modi, manager, supervisor, operator, and technician.
Top Supreme Court lawyer Aashutosh Srivastava representing the Modi Couple’s case, said he argued the bail matter on the provision prescribed in sec 105 of the Factories Act, 1948. According to the defence counsel, “The above-mentioned provisions has not complied while registering the FIR as no sanction of the factories inspector has been obtained prior by the Muzaffarpur police and further Sec 304 as mentioned in the FIR cannot be invoked as this incidence does not fall within any of the five exceptions mentioned u/s 300 of IPC”.
The defence team, led by the proficient & experienced lawyer for Supreme Court- Mr Aashutosh Srivastava, presented a strong case. After the long arguments made by the expert Advocate, the honourable court was convinced and signed the bail petition. While granting bail to Modis’, Judge Manoj Kumar Sinha was of the view that “it is judicious to extend the privilege of pre-arrest bail to the petitioners.” The family members of Mr Vikas Modi breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the judgement came out. They were glad that the defence counsel was able to outrightly prove that ‘justice is the right that one fights for if one seeks fairness’.
The incident then drew national attention. Compensations were announced for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the explosion within a few hours of the incident. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family members, wherein the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). The financial compensation to families of the deceased had been already given as told to the media by Muzaffarpur’s district magistrate Pranav Kumar.
