Ghatkopar Hoarding Collapse Case: Mumbai Sessions Court Orders De-Freezing Of Ego Media, Guju Ads Bank Accounts

Mumbai: The sessions court recently ordered to de-freeze accounts of Ego Media Pvt. Ltd, Guju Ads Railway Payment its director Bhavesh Bhinde, an allegedly a key accused in Ghatkoper hoarding collapse case along with the accounts held by Bhinde’s partner Karan Pujara.

The accounts of the two firms, Bhinde and Pujara were freezed by the investigating agency during the probe of the collapse of the hoarding in Ghatkoper.

The additional sessions judge SB Pawar while ordering to de-freeze these accounts said that, “Merely because some cheques of those accounts were issued and were cleared, it is not a sufficient ground to continue the debit freezing of the bank accounts, especially when the investigation is complete”

Ego Media, which constructed the hoarding, had pleaded that, due to freezing of the accounts, the applicant company is unable to meet daily expenditure and to repay its creditors and suppliers. The applicant company is also unable to pay the rents due and salaries to its employees. It was further contended that the company was not served with any notice prior to freezing the accounts. The Guju Ads Railways payment had pleaded that, is entirely a separate entity from the Ego Media Private Ltd and had links with the hoardings.

Bhinde however, had claimed that the money in the said bank accounts is the money gained by regular legal business transactions and it is not the proceeds of the crime. Bhinde’s partner Pujara had pleaded that he is not even an accused in the case and the account was freezed only because of his partnership with BHinde.

The pleas were opposed by the prosecution which claimed that the accounts of Ego Media, Guju Ads and of Bhinde were used to allegedly give funds to another accused Arshad Khan. It is alleged that Khan had demanded Rs 1 crores to obtain permission for the construction of the hoarding and these accounts were used to give funds to Khan. The prosecution said that the probe in the case is still on, as the state has constituted a special Investigating team for it.

The court however after considering all the aspects allowed the pleas and noted that “It is not the case of the prosecution that any amount involved in the offence is deposited in the bank accounts sought to be de-freezed. It is further not the case of prosecution that proceeds of crime are deposited in the said bank accounts.”