The Bombay High Court has come down strongly for not following the prescribed procedure during the arrest in the Worli BMW hit-and-run case. However, the court also said there was a need to strike a balance between the defendant’s rights and the brutality of the incident.
A bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande was hearing two petitions on Monday. Both the petitions were filed by accused Mihir Shah and his driver Rajrishi Bidawat. Here, there were calls for his arrest to be declared unlawful because the police did not provide a written basis for the arrest.
Defense lawyers Niranjan Mundargi and Rishi Bhuta said in the affidavit that the police admitted that the reasons for the arrest were not stated in writing. During this period, the judge asked the defendant: “What kind of citizen are you?” You said your rights, but what about the rights of the victim? The seriousness of the crime stopped us. Your actions have trampled on the rights of the victims. In this case, God will not forgive us if we get involved in technical aspects.
The judge clarified: “We want to strike a balance between the law and the barbaric nature of the incident. It is important that the defendant knows why he is being arrested. Shouldn’t he be made aware of the charges against him? According to the prescribed procedure, the police must explain in writing Reasons for arresting the defendant. When talking about the entire incident, the judge said that the victim Kaveri Nakhwa was dragged by the defendant for more than 2 kilometers while running away.
What’s going on?
At 7 am, fishermen couple Pradeep Nakhwa and Kaveri Nakhwa, who were riding a scooter, were hit by an out-of-control BMW car near Atria Mall in Worli area. After the accident, the defendant did not stop the car. The woman was still hanging on the hood of the car for a long distance and fell on the road. The woman died in the accident. The accused, Mihir Shah, was absconding after the incident.
