Technical investigation by the Mumbai Fire Brigade A technical investigation was conducted by the Mumbai Fire Brigade, to establish the causes of the fire. The Mumbai Fire Brigade released its technical investigation report on 5 January 2018. The report examined evidence from the scene of the fire, as well as examining eyewitness accounts from survivors to establish the cause and spread of the fire. Initial reports suggested the fire broke out in a rooftop restobar, 1 Above, and rapidly spread to next door pub Mojo's Bistro, and may have been caused by a short circuit. Initial statements from the Mumbai Police also indicated that 1 Above did not have permission to function on the roof top, and had illegally constructed several structures there, including a toilet. The hookahs provided at Mojo's Bistro used coal that releases embers instead of higher-quality coal that does not. The Mumbai Fire Brigade's report indicated that the fire spread from Mojo's Pub to the adjacent 1 Above, via flammable material including curtains, decorative flowers, and the bamboo canopies that had been illegally constructed on the roof. This was confirmed in the technical investigation report, which also found that the only emergency exit from the rooftop was locked, and had been further obstructed by stacks of beer kegs, which later exploded during the fire. The Commissioner's detailed investigation report was filed with the state
government of Maharashtra, and found 12 MCGM officials, including the 5 already suspended, to be guilty of misconduct. An additional investigative report submitted in 2020 by the MCGM indicated that 23% of the land developed for commercial use in the Kamala Mills compound had been done on a fraudulent basis, and that 11.93% of the development was in violation of fire safety norms.
Arrests and suspensions Arrests Immediately after the fire, the Mumbai Police filed an accidental death report. Preliminary reports from fire fighters indicated that 1 Above did not have any fire exits, and consequently, the Mumbai Police filed an investigation report against the three partners and manager of 1 Above. The owners of 1 Above initially fled, avoiding arrest, but were caught and detained by the Mumbai Police on 11 January 2018. Following an investigation by the Mumbai Fire Brigade, which found that the fire may have actually begun at Mojo's Pub, the owners of Mojo's Pub were also arrested. Yug Pathak, one of the owners, was arrested on 12 January 2018. Yug Tulli, the other owner of Mojo's Pub, initially evaded the police and was eventually arrested a year later after he surrendered to the Mumbai Police at N.M.Joshi Marg Station.
Suspensions Trial As of July 2020, the trial in the case of the Kamala Mills Fire is still ongoing. In April 2018, a Sessions Court in Mumbai denied bail to seven persons accused in the case, including Rajendra Baban Patil, a Fire Officer responsible for certifying the two restaurants where the fire began; Yug Pathak (one of the owners of Mojo's Pub); Abhijit Mankar (the owners of 1 Above) and Ramesh Govani and Ravi Bhandari (the owners of the Kamala Mills Compound). The two managers of 1 Above, Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez, were released on bail. On 27 March 2018, Ravi Surajmal Bhandari, one of the owners of the Kamala Mills commercial complex, withdrew a challenge to his arrest and detention in police custody at the Supreme Court, in connection with the 2017 fire, preferring instead to apply for bail at the trial court. Bhandari and the other owner of the Kamala Mills complex, Ramesh Govani, were both granted bail by the
Bombay High Court on 19 May 2018. On 15 December 2018, the
Supreme Court of India released Kripesh and Jigar Sanghavi, the owners of 1 Above on bail, pointing out that while bail had been granted to them by the Bombay High Court, their release had been delayed because they had not been provided with copies of the bail order. In June 2018, Rajendra Baban Patil, the Fire Officer accused in the case, was granted bail, and in April 2019, the last remaining accused person in custody, Sayyid Ali, a waiter at 1 Above, was granted bail.
Public interest litigation and judicial inquiry In 2018, Julio Ribeiro, a former police commissioner in the Mumbai Police, filed a Public Interest Litigation petition in the Mumbai High Court, asking the High Court to constitute a judicial inquiry into the causes of the Kamala Mills fire, including the licensing and regulation of the two restaurants where the fire broke out, by the MCGM. The Bombay High Court ordered the constitution of a three-member panel to conduct such an investigation, consisting of a retired judge, A V Savant, an architect, Vasant Thakur, and former municipal commissioner K Nalinakshan. On 12 September 2018, the three-member judicial panel filed their report with the Bombay High Court. The panel found that the owner of the Kamala Mills land had breached regulations by illegally constructing commercial spaces for lease, in violation of the permitted development of
FSI. The High Court Panel criticised the MCGM and State Government for granting permissions without adequate checks and balances under programs aimed at improving the ease of doing business in Maharashtra. The Kamala Mills fire incident led to other cities in India revisiting fire safety regulations and compliance to prevent similar incidents. Immediately after the incident, the
Government of Delhi asked the
Delhi Fire Service to inspect restaurants and bars for compliance with safety regulations, citing the Kamala Mills fire as a reason. The
Nagpur Municipal Corporation also conducted a review of rooftop bars and restaurants and demolished unauthorised constructions. ==References==