HC Grants Bail To Five In SBL Blast Case, Rejects Pleas Of Six Others The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on Saturday granted bail to five of the 11 accused arrested in connection with the SBL's Raulgaon unit blast that claimed 26 lives. Those granted bail include Roshan Raut, Rajendra Pardhi, Sudhakar Uparkar, Pankaj Pande, and Nilkamal Dongre. The remaining six accused—Chandramohan Rajwade, Vilas Malwe, Sandeep Solanki, Pradeep Sharma, Ravi Kamra, and Rakesh Tiwari—were denied relief, though the court did not specify the reasons for their rejection in open proceedings. The explosion occurred on March 1 within the company premises, resulting in the deaths of 26 workers. Investigators attributed the tragedy to significant lapses in safety protocols. According to police findings and reports from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) as well as the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), the facility lacked adequate risk assessment mechanisms, had insufficient firefighting systems, failed to appoint the required number of safety officers, and did not provide proper training to workers. All 11 accused had approached the high court after a sessions court rejected their bail applications. Their legal representatives included Chinmay Dharmadhikari, Advait Manohar, and Aditya Chaudhary. Separately, arguments commenced on Saturday in anticipatory bail pleas filed by eight absconding accused in the same case. The court scheduled the next hearing in that matter for April 22. The case highlights systemic regulatory failures in industries handling hazardous materials.#bombay_high_court #nagpur_bench #petroleum_and_explosives_safety_organisation #sbl_raulgaon_unit_blast #directorate_of_industrial_safety_and_health
