Lives lost yet again in another drunken driving case in Mumbai

We take a look at some of the high profile drunken driving cases

In another tragic case of drunk driving, two lives were lost after Jahnavi Gadkar, a vice president with the legal team at Reliance Industries, rammed her Audi into a taxi on the Eastern Freeway early on Tuesday morning. Jahnavi was found to be under the influence of alcohol and driving on the wrong side of the road.
 

She was taken into custody, and has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and rash driving.  The two casualties include Nagpada resident Salim Saboonwala and taxi driver Sayed Hussain  

This, however, is not the first case when one of the country’s elites has been found with blood on his/her wheels.

The most infamous case of rash driving is surely the 1999 Delhi hit-and-run case. Sanjeev Nanda, son of businessman Suresh Nanda, was heading back from a late night party when, on the early morning of January 10, 1999, his speeding BMW drove over six people including three Delhi Police constables, at a police checkpoint on Lodhi Road.

Even though Nanda and four others were initially acquitted, the Supreme court found them guilty in 2008. In 2012, however, the apex court reduced the prescribed two-years term to time served, monetary fine and community service. The case came under public scrutiny, with several news papers and magazines terming it as a “test of the judicial system's ability to take on the powerful”.

Salman Khan

Second in the list of infamous hit-and-run case would be Salman Khan’s Landcruiser running over three men sleeping outside a Mumabi bakery. One of them died instantly and the other three were hospitalised with severe injuries. Khan was arrested on September 28, 2002, for rash driving, and charged with culpable homicide.

While key witness Ravindra Patil claimed Khan was driving in an inebriated state, at the speed of 90-100 kmph, Khan denied allegations saying he was not in the driver’s seat. The case grew murky with Patil’s kidnapping and eventual death.
 

The charges were initially dropped and the case had to be re-opened on May 24, 2013. On May 6, 2015, the Bombay Sessions Court found Khan guil;ty on all charges, sentencing him to five years in jail. However, he was granted interim bail till 8 May 2015 suspending his prison sentence till the final appeal hearing in July. 

Alistair Pereira

The third major case of hit-and-run involved Alistair Pareira, who drove his Toyota Corolla over sleeping construction workers along Mumbai's Carter Road Pareira was heading back drunk from a late night party on November 12, 2006.

Seven people died and eight were reported injured. Again, after gaining initial bail in 2006, Pareira was convicted under section 304 (a) (causing death by rash and negligent act), and awarded a meagre six months jail by the Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court however, hearing Pareira’s appeal, not only maintained the conviction, but also went on to raise the imprisonment term to three years. 

Ankesh Shahra, son of Dinesh Shahra, managing director, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, allegedly drove his Porsche Panamera into a two-wheeler on Marine Drive, early on 18 April 2011. Ainul Immanuddin, delivery boy of Zaffran restaurant at Crawford Market was seriously injured.

While the damage caused was low compared to the earlier instances, the case remained in the news for alleged instances of power play and rampant bribery in the city’s police ranks. Shahra was booked under Sections 279 and 338 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 185 and 134 (I and II) of the Motor Vehicle Act.