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Speed
Thrills,
But Kills
Mumbai woke up
with a shock on
31 January 2010
to tragic news
that had become
too all familiar
and sickeningly
frequent. Yet
another drunk
driver, this time
a rich young woman,
crashed her car
into a police
barricade in the
wee hours of the
night, killing
a sub-inspector
on duty and a
civilian biker
undergoing, ironically,
a breatheliser
test for alcohol.
Nooria Haveliwala,
a beautician and
an American national,
had recently returned
from the US, was
driving her Honda
SUV at 120kmph
after midnight
in the early hours
of 30 January
when she slammed
it into the police
party checking
drunken driving.
Her blood tests
showed she had
consumed alcohol.
“People
should realise
the serious consequences
of driving under
the influence
of alcohol. We
will request the
government to
make laws for
drunk driving
more stringent,''
said Joint Commissioner
of Police (Law
and Order) Himanshu
Roy.
In the worst-ever
such car crashes,
Alistair Pereira,
21, ran his father's
Corolla over 15
persons sleeping
on Carter Road,
killing seven
people on 12 November
2006. Pereira
was found drunk.
The Bombay High
Court sent him
to jail for three
years. Pereira's
appeal is pending
in the Supreme
Court and he is
out on bail.
On 27 July 2006,
a drunk Oman-based
psychologist Asma
Mada, 33, was
held for crushing
two people on
a Cadell Road
pavement. She
fled, but was
tracked down to
her house in Juhu.
Mada's trial is
pending.
On 20 January
2008 Sanket Sonawane,
son of a civil
engineer was booked
for killing two
people when he
rammed his car
into a group at
the Bandra Kurla
Complex. The trial
is pending. Earlier
in 2005, Sonawane
was caught driving
drunk and fined
Rs 1,000.
According to newspaper
reports, from
2007 to date,
nearly 22,000
people have been
imprisoned for
drunk driving.
But many have
slipped through
the net. A look
at some of the
tragic cases on
Mumbai's roads.
On 11 June a dumper
driver, who was
allegedly under
the influence
of alcohol, mowed
down two pavement
dwellers, including
a five-month-old
baby girl, and
injured five others.
The incident took
place at 1.35
am near the Gateway
of India. 5 were
injured STATUS:
The dumper driver
fled the spot,
abandoning his
vehicle, but was
later arrested
by the Colaba
police on charges
of rash and negligent
driving. The trial
is pending
The most vociferous
public outcry
against drunken
driving was heard
in a case involving
actor Salman Khan,
who drove his
Land Cruiser over
a pavement in
Bandra, killing
one person and
injuring three
others on 28 September
2002. He was arrested
and let off and
was rearrested
after a public
outcry and charged
with culpable
homicide punishable
with up to 10
years in jail.
Khan's trial is
pending.
One of the earliest
cases on record
involved Puru
Rajkumar, the
actor son of Bollywood's
legendary veteran
Rajkumar, who
rammed his car
into pavement
dwellers, killing
three and injuring
one in December
1993. Puru was
ordered to pay
Rs 30,000 each
to the families
of the deceased
as compensation.
The Issue of drunken
driving received
national focus
with the infamous
hit-and-run case
involving Delhi
businessman Sanjeev
Nanda. He was
found guilty of
crushing six persons,
including three
policemen with
his luxury BMW
car on 10 January
1999 in Lodhi
Colony of south
Delhi. He was
allegedly drunk
at the time.
The Delhi High
Court, however,
reduced his punishment
from five to two
years in jail
after holding
he could not have
the knowledge
that the tragedy
could strike by
his rash and negligent
driving. Justice
Kailash Gambhir
said that though
the incident was
“gruesome,”
it could not be
held that it occurred
within the knowledge
of Nanda. The
court modified
the trial court
order by holding
him guilty under
Section 304-A
(causing death
due to rash and
negligent act)
and acquitting
him of Section
304 (Culpable
homicide not amounting
to murder).
Earlier, the trial
court observed
that Nanda deserved
strict punishment
because of "drunken
driving".
The court said
if "drunken
driving"
results in the
death of a person,
it takes the crime
out of the purview
of section 304A
(rash and negligent
driving) and it
could be covered
under the definition
of murder.
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