Contractors are held fully responsible for safety measures during public works; negligence resulting in fatality warrants strict legal repercussions.

JUDGMENT :

SWARANA KANTA SHARMA, J.

1. By way of these applications, the applicants seek grant of anticipatory bail in case arising out of FIR bearing no. 35/2026, registered at Police Station Janakpuri, Delhi for the commission of offence punishable under Sections 105/238(b)/9(2)/3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 [hereafter "BNS"].

Factual Background

2. Briefly stated, the facts of the present case are that the FIR in question was registered on receipt of a PCR call on 06.02.2026, informing that a motorcycle rider had fallen into a deep pit and was in need of immediate assistance. Upon receipt of the said information, police officials reached the spot, i.e. B-3B, near Andhra School, Janakpuri, New Delhi, where they found a young boy along with his motorcycle lying inside a pit measuring about 20 feet in length, 13 feet in width and about 14 feet in depth, which had been dug in the middle of the road. During the course of investigation, it was revealed that the said pit had been dug by the Delhi Jal Board [hereafter "DJB"]. With the assistance of officials from the Fire Brigade, the injured boy was taken out of the pit and shifted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital; however, he was unfortunately declared brought dead. Thereafter, the Crime Team and the FSL Team were called at the spot, and investigation in the present case is being carried out.

Submissions before the Court

3. The learned APP appearing for the State has argued that the offence in question is of a serious nature. It is submitted that during investigation, upon analysis of the CCTV footage, it was revealed that no precautionary or safety measures, such as display of caution boards, barricading or other warning mechanisms, had been put in place by the contractor or the labourers at or around the excavation site, which ultimately resulted in the death of a young motorcycle rider. It is further submitted that the CCTV footage also shows that immediately after the incident, one labourer, namely Yogesh, was seen covering the excavation site by placing barricades and curtains on the road where the incident had occurred. Investigation has further revealed that the said labourer Yogesh had informed the sub- contractor, Rajesh, about the incident at around 12:22 AM on 06.02.2026, i.e., within a few minutes of the incident. Thereafter, the sub-contractor Rajesh is stated to have informed the present accused Himanshu Gupta, brother of co-accused Kavish Gupta, through a WhatsApp call at about 01:56 AM, following which they remained in continuous contact with each other till the morning hours. It is further contended that the DJB had issued a work order on 09.10.2025 for rectification of peripheral sewer lines in the Janakpuri area to KKSIL-O LINER JV, a joint venture having lead partner as M/s K.K. Spun Indian Limited [hereafter "KKSIL"], of which the present applicants, i.e. Himanshu Gupta and Kavish Gupta, are Directors. As per the terms of the contract, the contractor was res