Noida: Sessions court rejected a bail application of the contractor arrested for criminal negligence after a six-year-old boy drowned in a pit dug up for installing a borewell and left uncovered inside Kaladham Society in Knowledge Park on June 25.Additional sessions judge Mayur Jain said that prima facie it appeared that the accused deliberately ignored the life-threatening danger to the people/children living in the residential complex as the construction was being done without safety standards.The negligence, the court said, led to the death of Avyan, who had slipped into the 15-foot-deep pit, dug up close to the society’s playground by the contractor, while playing with his friends. “The accused’s criminal act appears to be a crime based on knowledge rather than negligence. The offence committed by the accused is of a serious nature,” the judge said, while rejecting the bail plea.Police arrested three people, including supervisors Johnny and Akash, and Jain on July 28 after an FIR was registered at Knowledge City police station under BNS sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) after a complaint was submitted by Avyan’s father Shiven Yadav.Jain’s counsel had told the court that the contractor had been falsely implicated in the case. “No direct actions, negligence, instructions, or personal knowledge are cited against the accused. The accused is a partner in a contracting firm that employed two authorised supervisors at the site. He was not present at the time of the incident, and the authorised supervisors were provided with all necessary safety instructions and equipment. Therefore, he is not accused of personal negligence,” the counsel said.Assistant district govt counsel argued that Greater Noida Authority had awarded the contract for digging borewells to the firm where Jain worked. While carrying out boring work at Kaladham, the accused dug a 10 to 12-foot-deep pit, but left it open without any warning, signage or safety measures, resulting in the death of the child.The court took note of the FIR and case diary, and observed the site was also used as a playground. “Digging a 10-12-foot-deep water-filled pit for a borewell in a residential area without safety measures, such as fencing, covering, barricading, posting warning signs, posting guards, etc, poses a threat to the lives of the residents and children playing there. The accused’s firm did not take appropriate measures to protect the lives of the people in the residential complex as per the safety standards prescribed under the rules related to such construction, and such an act resulted in the death of a young boy,” the court said.
