L&T board charged in pothole death case
The case dates to February 10, 2014, when three-year-old Pavitra was killed on NH-2 while travelling with his parents on a motorcycle. His mother, Teena Wadhwa, was seriously injured and has not yet fully recovered. His father, Manoj, pursued the case and even approached Punjab and Haryana high court for a fresh investigation to fix responsibility on NHAI and agencies involved in widening and maintenance of the stretch where the accident took place. After three rounds of investigation through different wings of police, Faridabad police named six accused and a final report was filed on October 12, 2018.
The NHAI had awarded the work of widening the Delhi-Agra stretch to DA Toll Road Pvt Ltd (DATRPL), an SPV set up by Reliance Infrastructure. DATRPL said the stretch where the accident took place was given to L&T and it was responsible for repairing and filling of potholes.
"We never knew this since common people thought DATRPL was responsible. After they shared the details, we sought the name of the L&T project officer who was responsible for this stretch and also the director to whom he was reporting. Our aim is to nail the persons responsible for the pothole that claimed the child's life. No one is ever held responsible for poor maintenance of roads and filling potholes, which pose a risk to commuters across the country," Manoj's counsel Denson Joseph told TOI.
When contacted, a spokesperson for L&T Construction said, "Safety is of paramount importance to us. The fateful incident occurred before unencumbered right of way was handed over to us for the stretch of the road where the pothole existed. The proceedings initiated by the complainant and the prosecution will be defended appropriately as per the procedure laid down under law."
According to the supplementary chargesheet submitted by Faridabad police to the judicial magistrate on April 25, police had sought the names of the L&T director who was posted there and his full address. L&T sent a list of names on October 5-6, 2018, giving details of the directors, which included its chairman and 14 others. Police said since jail term for such an offence is less than seven years, they did not arrest the directors and requested the court to issue notices. Police had submitted the supplementary chargesheet after a court order of March 26 which said, "By looking at all the circumstances, the investigating agency, through the applicant, is directed to specify the name of the director, L&T company, who was directly responsible for supervising the said project, by filing point-wise and detailed reply to the application in hand. If required, the investigating agency is at liberty to do further investigation on this point."
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