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Kerala Temple Fire: HC Grants Bail To All 41 Accused

They have been instructed to submit their passports and not leave the state.
Indian bystanders gather among debris and building wreckage of The Puttingal Devi Temple in Paravur some 60kms north-west of Thiruvananthapuram on April 11, 2016. More than 100 people have died and 350 injured when fireworks meant to be lit for festivities caught fire and exploded near the temple where thousands of people had gathered to witness the festivities on the early hours of April 10. / AFP / MANJUNATH KIRAN (Photo credit should read MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Indian bystanders gather among debris and building wreckage of The Puttingal Devi Temple in Paravur some 60kms north-west of Thiruvananthapuram on April 11, 2016. More than 100 people have died and 350 injured when fireworks meant to be lit for festivities caught fire and exploded near the temple where thousands of people had gathered to witness the festivities on the early hours of April 10. / AFP / MANJUNATH KIRAN (Photo credit should read MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images)

KOCHI -- Kerala High Court today granted bail to all the 41 accused in the Puttingal Devi temple fire work tragedy, that claimed 109 lives at Paravoor in Kollam district in April.

Granting bail to them, Justice P Ubaid instructed them to surrender their passports to the police and not to leave the state.

The court observed police have not yet filed charge sheet in the case in spite of 91 days (it is mandatory to file charge sheet in 90 days) passing after the incident.

The accused included 15 managing committee members of the temple, firework contractor and his workers. The accused were charged under section 304 of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

The gruesome incident took place on the early hours of 10 April during a festival at the temple.

One hundred and nine people were killed and 383 were injured in the major fire that engulfed the 100-year-old Puttingal Devi Temple complex in the fireworks, for which no permission had been granted by the authorities.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.