A Delhi court has refused to grant bail to Kesar Negi, the cook arrested in connection with the fatal fire at Flourish Stays B&B in Malviya Nagar’s Hauz Rani area, in which 22 persons, including 13 foreign nationals, lost their lives last week.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhanu Pratap Singh of the Saket Courts rejected Negi’s bail application on Monday and remanded him to judicial custody for a period of two weeks. The court also extended the police custody of hotel owner Lavkesh Bajaj by two additional days as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident.
Negi was arrested along with Bajaj on allegations of negligence arising from the fire tragedy. In his bail plea filed before the South District Court, Negi contended that he was being made a scapegoat for systemic safety lapses and statutory violations allegedly committed by the owners and management of the establishment.
The plea asserted that Negi was merely a salaried chef employed at the hotel and had no authority, control or responsibility over the property’s fire-safety infrastructure, compliance mechanisms or operational management. It was argued that the factors which allegedly contributed to the rapid spread of the fire, including the use of LPG cylinders connected through rubber pipes, the placement of cylinders, and the absence of essential fire-safety measures such as fire extinguishers, alarms, sprinklers, emergency exits and a valid fire no-objection certificate, fell exclusively within the domain of the proprietors and management of the premises.
The petitioner contended that the fire originated due to an electrical short circuit, which allegedly resulted in the melting of pipes and subsequent leakage. Negi maintained that upon noticing the electrical fault, he acted prudently by switching off the electricity supply. The cook also denied allegations that he had abandoned the premises without alerting other occupants about the fire.
Filed by Advocates Deepak Prakash, Sriram Parakkat, Divyangna Malik, Priyamvada Solank and Harshit Sharma, the bail petition highlighted that Negi, a resident of Uttarakhand, is an elderly and infirm individual and satisfied the established triple test for grant of bail, namely the absence of flight risk, the likelihood of non-interference with the investigation, and the improbability of influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence.
With the rejection of his bail plea, Negi will remain in judicial custody while the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the devastating fire and the alleged lapses in safety compliance continues.
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