The court denied bail due to the applicant's intoxication, reckless driving causing death, and potential to tamper with evidence, emphasizing the serious nature of the charges.

JUDGMENT :

Neela Gokhale, J.

1. The Applicant seeks his release on bail in connection with C.R. No. 378 of 2024 dated 7^th July 2024 registered with the Worli Police Station, Mumbai for the offences punishable under Sections 134(A), 134(B), 184, 187 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Sections 105 , 125(b), 238, 281 and 324(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 ('BNS’).

2. The First Informant is one Pradeep Nakhwa, husband of the deceased and the Intervenor in the present Application. The facts of the case, as discerned from the FIR, are as under :-

2.1 On 7^th July 2024, Mihir Shah, the Applicant herein, was driving a white BMW car, at a high speed, which violently collided with the First Informant's scooter from behind. The First Informant was riding the scooter with his wife, Kaveri (‘Victim/Deceased’) as pillion, going towards Worli from Peddar Road. While the First Informant was riding his scooter cautiously on the left side of the road, the said BMW car hit the scooter from behind. The impact propelled the First Informant and his wife onto the car’s bonnet. On seeing two people on his bonnet, the person driving the car, applied brakes to halt the car. The First Informant saw a 20-25 year- old man in the driver's seat and a middle-aged man, sitting next to him. The person driving the car is identified as the Applicant herein and the person sitting next to him, as the driver employed by the Applicant. The sudden application of the brakes resulted in the First Informant being thrown off the bonnet, and his wife being entangled between the car's front left wheel and the front fender.

2.2 The First Informant and his wife screamed in agony. Despite the screams and the deceased being stuck under the wheels of the car, the Applicant heedlessly persisted in his reckless flight, dragging the Victim/Deceased with the car for about 1½ - 2 Kms. ahead. The First Informant shouted at the driver to stop the car, indicating that his wife was stuck under the wheels of the car. The First Informant ran behind the car frantically, trying to persuade the car driver to stop the car. The Applicant, however, drove away in high speed, dragging the stuck Victim/Deceased with him.

2.3 The First Informant hailed a taxi. He followed the car in the taxi, but the high-speed BMW car was not to be seen. Ultimately, the First Informant went to the Worli Police Station and narrated the incident to the police. The Police received a wireless message that a body of an unknown lady was lying on the sea-link road. The body was taken to Nair Hospital. The First Informant, accompanied by the Police, went to Nair Hospital and identified the body to be of his wife. The body was mangled and had suffered serious injuries. Pursuant to the complaint noted by the Police, the FIR was registered.

2.4 Initial investigative steps concluded that the BMW car was driven by the Applicant. Spot Panchanama was drawn and the CCTV footages along the road were collected. CCTV footages revealed that the offending car proceeded towards Bandra from the sea-link. The Police traced the route taken by the said car. At the Kalanagar Junction flyover, they found the car which had broken down. There were two people standing next to the car and a towing van. Upon enquiry, it was revealed that one of the two people was Rajrishi Rajendra Singh Bindawat, the driver employed by the Applicant's family, and the other was Rajesh Shah, the Applicant’s father. Bindawat informed that the car had met with an accident. Both were taken to the Police Station.

2.5 Further investigation reve