Indore, 4 April

Two years after 36 devotees lost their lives when an illegally built temple in Indore collapsed, a city court has acquitted two senior office-bearers of the trust that managed the shrine, citing lack of evidence.

An additional sessions judge on Thursday acquitted Sewaram Galani and Murli Kumar Sabnani, president and secretary of the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust, respectively, defence lawyer Raghvendra Singh Bais told reporters.

The duo, booked under culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other charges, was the only accused in the case.

The Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple was built illegally over an old stepwell, and its collapse on March 30, 2023, when it was packed with devotees celebrating Ram Navami, led to the death of 36 persons, including 21 women and two children.

Galani and Sabnani were cleared of the charges under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, the lawyer said.

'The court acquitted both my clients due to lack of evidence,' he added.

According to Bais, the prosecution had presented 33 witnesses in the court, including some government officials, to prove the charges against the two accused.

He mentioned that an official of the Indore Development Authority testified in the court that the stepwell related to the incident was not even recorded in government records.

The defence lawyer stated that during the hearing, employees of the Indore Municipal Corporation expressed ignorance about the stepwell, even though the civic body's office is very close to the incident site.

Bais said the trial court, in its judgement, has made serious critical comments on the working style of government officials linked to the episode.

The tragedy occurred when the 'havan poojan (fire)' ceremony was taking place during the Ram Navami celebrations at the temple. As the temple caved in, devotees fell into the stepwell and perished.

Four days after the incident, on 3 April, 2023, the local administration transferred the idols of the deities from the temple to another place of worship.

The temple was then demolished, citing safety concerns for people, and the stepwell was permanently sealed after filling it up with debris.