A high-level committee headed by retired judge Justice Dilip Bhosale — appointed to probe the hoarding collapse incident in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, that killed 17 people and injured 80 on May 13, 2024 — has pinpointed “criminal conspiracy” involving suspended IPS officer Quaiser Khalid, BMC official Sunil Dalvi, and Ego Media directors Bhavesh Bhinde and Janhavi Marathe, along with businessman Mohammed Arshad Khan.
The committee’s report accessed by The Indian Express concluded, “The sequence of events not only points the needle of suspicion towards a criminal conspiracy hatched between Mr Khalid, Mr Bhinde, Ms Marathe, Mr Dalvi and Mr Arshad Khan, in order to perpetrate illegalities and circumvent the BMC regulations, but it also seems that they have actually committed illegalities, which untimely led to loss of 17 lives in the incident on May 13, 2024.”
While the committee had submitted its report to the government in May this year, the Maharashtra cabinet accepted the report along with its recommendations and conclusions on Tuesday. The council of ministers, headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, also directed the departments concerned to act on the recommendations within a month.
The committee, headed by Bhosale, former Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, includes the director general of police, additional commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, a structural engineer from IIT Bombay, an income tax official and a chartered accountant.
In the report, the committee has pointed that Khalid, while serving as GRP commissioner, approved illegal relaxations, including increase in hoarding size, extended operational tenure, and erection of a fourth hoarding without tender, enabling systematic circumvention of municipal rules.
The report further said that the land where the hoardings were erected — partly owned by the Government of Maharashtra for Railway Police use and partly by the Police Welfare Corporation — was mischaracterised as “Railway property” under the Railways Act, 1989 and that allowed the officials to bypass BMC regulations, which stipulate that hoardings cannot exceed 40×40 ft in size.
Originally, a Railway Police e-tender had granted three hoardings, each 40×40 ft back to back (3x1600x2 or 9,600 sqft) for 10 years to Ego Media. After assuming office, Khalid expanded the three hoardings to a total frontage of 38,400 sqft, extended their operational period from 10 to 30 years, and approved a fourth hoarding measuring 120×140 ft back to back (16,800×3 or 33,600 sqft), all without issuing fresh tenders or seeking DGP approval, the report stated.
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The report states that the sequence of approvals, size expansions, and financial dealings clearly indicates a coordinated network of wrongdoing. By enlarging hoardings beyond permissible limits, extending operational rights, approving a fourth hoarding without tender, and facilitating cash transfers, including a transaction of Rs 84 lakh, the accused created conditions that directly contributed to the tragedy.
It also pointed out procedural lapses in tendering and said that the competitor Qicom was refused permission to erect a hoarding, without being invited to submit a commercial proposal. The committee noted that these actions were taken despite objections from the BMC and BPCL, directly creating conditions that led to the hoarding’s collapse.
The Indian Express, in its report on May 17, had reported how Khalid as GRP commissioner had given multiple relaxation to Bhinde’s firm to erect the hoarding.
According to the report, the investigation also uncovered financial irregularities and pointed that Mohammed Arshad Khan, a long-time associate of Bhavesh Bhinde, reportedly handled blank cheques of Rs 84 lakh from Ego Media, deposited them in multiple accounts and converted the funds into cash, which was allegedly handed over to Khalid.
According to the report, Sunil Dalvi, then BMC senior inspector (Licence), N-ward, stayed in constant touch with Bhinde during hoarding construction and sanctioned an unsecured loan of Rs 45 lakh to Bhinde and Marathe, directors of Ego Media, without any security. It said that Dalvi, who also served as chairman of a credit society, was thus in a position to facilitate the financial improprieties.
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While four of the five individuals — Dalvi, Bhinde, Marathe, and Arshad Khan —named by the commitee in its report were earlier arrested and are out on bail at present, the fifth individual, Khalid, remains under suspension.
The committee has also issued 21-point recommendations to prevent similar incidents, including regular inspections of hoardings, appointment of a nodal enforcement agency, granting full powers to municipal authorities to act against illegal structures, strict adherence to size limits, prohibition of hoardings on terraces or compound walls, and measures to ensure traffic and pedestrian safety, including accessibility for differently-abled citizens.
“The inquiry highlights growing concerns over regulatory non-compliance in Mumbai, where illegal hoardings have repeatedly posed serious risks. By mischaracterising private land as railway property, bypassing tender procedures, and facilitating financial inducements, including cash dealings of Rs 84 lakh, the accused exploited loopholes in the system, putting public safety at risk,” said a source close to the development.
He added that the report specifically names Ego Media directors Bhavesh Bhinde and Janhavi Marathe, whose company benefited from increase in size, extended operational rights, and approval of the fourth hoarding, along with financial gains from the Rs 84 lakh cash transactions and Rs 45 lakh unsecured loan.
