Bombay High Court questions arrest of Schaeffler India chief after fatal factory accident

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday stayed further investigation against Harsha Gopal Kadam, managing director and chief executive of the local listed subsidiary of German automotive component supplier Schaeffler India Ltd, in a case involving the deaths of two workers at a factory, questioning his arrest months after the accident and the addition of a culpable homicide charge.

While passing an order, Justice Milind N. Jadhav observed that the applicant (Kadam) had made out a very strong case for bail.

“Ideally, I am of the opinion that the learned Trial Court while passing the order dated 20.10.2026 ought to have allowed the same and granted bail,” observed the court in its 11-page order.


“Once it is crystal clear from the facts of the record which have also been noted by the learned Trial Court that the incident occurred on June 9, 2026 and after complete investigation, a chargesheet came to be filed and it is only on October 19, 2026 the police had submitted a report for adding Section 105 of the BNS, it was the duty of the learned Trial Court to apply its mind to the repercussion of such an addition of a charge which the prosecution had not added or invoked at the threshold and should have heard the applicant,” added the court.

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In this case, the company said in its stock exchange filing on October 20 that the Talegaon MIDC Police Station took Kadam into custody to investigate the incident that occurred on June 9, 2026. The accident involved a sudden discharge of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas during a scheduled cylinder replacement, which resulted in the death of two workers.

The company said in its regulatory filing that the investigation has been extended to Kadam in his capacity as the designated 'occupier' of the factory premises under applicable law.

Before the court’s order, senior counsel Amit Desai, instructed by AZB & Partners, argued that neither Applicant was present nor involved in any supervisory or executive role and that, in respect of the accident, no specific overt act is attributed or alleged against him.

The court observed that, once the Applicant was called and his statement recorded before the chargesheet was filed, there was no real reason to require the Applicant's custody unless new material was discovered. There was none. The police could have called the applicant for investigation to cooperate.

Police initially investigated the incident as negligence and filed a chargesheet on September 2 against the plant head, safety officer, heat-treatment head and representatives of the maintenance companies. The chargesheet did not name Kadam.

Investigators questioned Kadam on October 8 and arrested him on October 19, after adding the culpable homicide charge. The court said he was arrested outside the company's corporate office in Pune, more than 25 kilometres from the factory.

On Friday, the company said in its regulatory filing that Kadam has filed a Criminal Application before the Bombay High Court of Bombay for quashing the Authority’s investigation against him.

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The exchange filing also says the court, by way of an interim order dated October 23, 2026, has stayed further investigation against Kadam and directed the Authority not to file any chargesheet or supplementary chargesheet against him.

Schaeffler India supplies automotive components to companies including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hyundai Motor India.