Cyrus Mistry accident: Rash driving case filed against Dr Anahita Pandole

Two months after former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry died in a car accident, police in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Saturday registered a case against Dr Anahita Pandole for alleged rash driving.

A case under Indian Penal Code sections 304(A) (causing death by rash and negligent act), 279 (rash driving on a public road), 337 (causing death by act endangering life and personal safety of others) besides the Motor Vehicles Act at Kasa police station, officials said. Mistry (54) and his friend Jahangir Pandole died in a car crash on a bridge on the Surya river on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Palghar district adjoining Mumbai on September 4, 2022. They were riding in the back seat of the Mercedes car.

Anahita Pandole, a Mumbai gynaecologist who was driving the car, and her husband Darius Pandole who was sitting next to her, were seriously injured. During the investigation, witnesses were questioned and reports were obtained from the Regional Transport Office and Mercedes Benz India Pune, said a police release here. "Based on the reports and probe it has been established that the accident was the result of rash and negligent driving," and hence a case was registered against Dr Anahita Pandole, it added.

A police official had claimed on Friday that Darius Pandole (60) told police in his statement that his wife Dr Anahita could not merge the vehicle into the second lane from the third lane of the road that turned narrow near the Surya river bridge. Darius Pandole was discharged from a Mumbai hospital last week.

"In his statement, Darius Pandole said his wife Anahita was driving the Mercedes-Benz car when they were on their way to Mumbai. A car which was ahead of their vehicle went to the second lane from the third and Anahita also tried to follow the same," the official said. When she tried to take the car to the second lane, she found that there was a truck on the right side (in the second lane) due to which she was not able to merge into that lane, he said, adding the lane turned narrow near the bridge. The statement of Anahita Pandole was yet to be recorded as she was still recovering, police had said.