The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to two Central Railway engineers who have been named as accused in the June 9 Mumbra train accident that left five passengers dead.
A single-judge bench of Justice N R Borkar directed the police not to take any coercive action against the engineers — Vishal Dolas and Samar Yadav — until December 9, when their anticipatory bail applications will be heard.
Dolas and Yadav approached the High Court after a Thane sessions court dismissed their pleas for pre-arrest bail. The sessions court had held that the tragedy, in which five commuters died and nine were injured, was not a “mere accident” but the result of a “knowing default or omission” by railway engineers and other officials responsible for track safety and maintenance.
The incident occurred near Mumbra railway station on the Central Railway main line, where five commuters fell to their deaths. The initial inquiry by the Central Railway attributed the accident to overcrowding, claiming that a protruding backpack of a commuter standing on the footboard of one train brushed against passengers standing on the footboard of the other train during a parallel crossing.
However, a technical inquiry by Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) offered a different assessment. It flagged multiple track-related deficiencies — including geometry issues, unwelded joints, and cant discrepancies — which, according to investigators, combined with incomplete welding and reduced track clearance, increased the risk during high-speed crossings.
Police registered a case earlier this month accusing railway officials of ignoring caution notices and failing to address track defects following heavy rainfall and maintenance work days before the fatal incident.
The sessions court had also rejected the “backpack theory,” noting that there were no photographs or videos to support the claim and observing that commuters typically carry their bags in front, not outward in a manner that would extend into the adjacent track.
In their petitions before the High Court, the two engineers claimed that the VJTI report was “assumption-based” and should not be treated as binding. They also argued that the deaths were accidental and should not form the basis of criminal prosecution.
The High Court has now granted temporary protection from arrest while it examines the anticipatory bail pleas. The matter will be heard next on December 9.
