MUMBAI, July 31 -- The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Malvan police to submit details of their last correspondence with the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory in Kolhapur in connection with the electronic devices seized from sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte after the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at the Rajkot Fort collapsed on August 6, 2024. The 35-foot statue was erected was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in December 2023. Following its collapse on August 6, 2024, the Sindhudurg police, acting on the Public Works Department's complaint, filed an FIR against Apte for negligence and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Damage to Public Property Act. Apte was on the run after this, and the police had formed seven teams to search for him. Ten days after the FIR registration, he surrendered before the Kalyan police on September 5, 2024. According to Apte's petition, filed by advocate Ganesh Sovani, after the investigation was completed, he had filed for bail multiple times, and the district courts rejected them. The high court granted him bail on January 10, 2025. In this time, the charge sheet had been filed on November 8, 2024, and transmitted to the Sindhudurg sessions court. During the investigation in the second week of September 2024, Apte's mobile phone and laptop were seized from his house in Kalyan. When he approached the sessions court seeking a direction for them to be returned to him, the court rejected the plea on May 9. Aggrieved by this, he moved the high court. As a professional artist who earns his livelihood by carving various statues and other related work, the devices have all his commercial contacts and agreements, he said. The petition stated, "He requires the laptop as he has to make a presentation and prepare some new or fresh projects. Moreover, his bank accounts are operated through Google Pay/PhonePe and his Debit Card is also used through the mobile." The police, on the other hand, stated that the gadgets were sent to the Kolhapur forensic lab in September last year and have not been returned yet. On Wednesday, the bench acknowledged the investigating agency's right to seize the electronic devices relevant to the case. It added that Apte had the right to access non-incriminating material required for his livelihood. It said, access to the devices would depend on examination by the forensic department. The court directed the state's counsel to seek instructions from the concerned police and clarify their last correspondence with the forensic department. The next hearing is scheduled for August 14....