A judge was “too harsh” when she denied Consolidated Edison Inc.'s request for the litigation files of a contractor in the massive steam pipe explosion that rocked midtown Manhattan in July 2007, a sharply divided panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, ruled Tuesday.

The 3-2 majority in In re Steam Pipe Explosion at 41st Street and Lexington Avenue, 768000/08E, said it was “not concerned with the ultimate admissibility of the evidence at trial, but with the discovery of information concerning the prior incident, as to which a more liberal standard applies.”

About 100 personal injury and property damage cases stemming from the steam pipe explosion have been consolidated before Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jaffe, whose discovery order was narrowly overturned.