The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant anticipatory bail to two contractors accused in the death of a 25-year-old biker who fell into an unguarded excavation pit in Janakpuri, holding that public roads cannot be allowed to turn into “death traps” and contractual work cannot come at the cost of human life.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma dismissed the pre-arrest bail pleas of Himanshu Gupta and Kavish Gupta, observing that the contract imposed a clear public duty on them to ensure safety measures at the site, including barricades, blinkers, rescue equipment, first-aid facilities, and prompt intimation to police and medical authorities.
The court noted that the excavation pit—approximately 20 feet long, 13 feet wide and 14 feet deep—was dug in the middle of a busy road without any barricading, signage, or safety arrangements, in violation of the work permit, tender conditions, and traffic police norms.
Justice Sharma remarked that an “untoward incident” was “inevitable” in such circumstances.
“It is high time that the citizens of Delhi are no longer taken for granted and their lives are valued… public roads cannot be allowed to convert into death traps, reduce human life to collateral damage of contractual work, and they cannot be allowed to evade responsibility thereafter.”
The court stressed that the precious lives of the public “cannot be left to the mercy of God” while excavation is carried out on busy roads without basic safeguards.
Referring to material on record, the court said there was an “apparent attempt” by the accused and their sub-contractor to shield themselves after the accident by hurriedly placing signage and barricades instead of helping the victim.
It found it “most disturbing” that no medical assistance was arranged, the police were not informed, and no emergency response was sought despite knowledge that the victim was lying in the pit struggling for life.
“The reckless disregard for human life… suggests that for accused persons, self-protection from hands of law was more important to them than saving a human life,” the court observed.
The High Court held that the primary liability under the contract rested with the accused’s company, which had been awarded the work by the Delhi Jal Board and had subsequently issued a subcontract in June 2025, even before the main contract was formally awarded in October 2025.
It said the contractors were entrusted with a public duty to exercise care and adhere to safety precautions, and the absence of even elementary safeguards culminated in the death of an innocent citizen.
The court added that the “blame-game must now come to an end” and the incident could not be treated merely as an accident when it was preventable.
Dismissing the bail pleas, the court underscored the need for accountability in public works.
“A message must also go to the community that a person or entity, awarded a public contract, undertakes it with responsibility, and if such responsibility is abdicated, accountability and the law must follow.”
The case relates to the death of Kamal Dhyani, a 25-year-old private bank employee, whose motorcycle plunged into the unguarded pit on the night of February 5-6 in Janakpuri.
A trial court had earlier rejected the anticipatory bail applications of the two contractors. The High Court’s order upholds that decision and allows the investigation to proceed without granting them protection from arrest.
