Mumbai: A decade after a 53-year-old sub-inspector died when a speeding car rammed into him, a sessions court convicted and sentenced the accused driver to a year’s imprisonment, finding that the blood alcohol tests were not conducted as per the mandatory procedure. The accused, Mitesh Modi, a senior sales executive, was initially booked under the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death allegedly caused by drunk driving. However, he was found guilty of the much lesser charge of causing death by negligence.
The court found that the blood sample drawn from the accused for the blood alcohol test was not forwarded by the medical officer but by the investigation officer, which was a contravention of the mandatory procedure. “It is not proved that the blood sample was sent through the messenger of the medical officer to the FSL. In view of the evidence, mandatory rules…the CA (Chemical Analysis) report cannot be relied upon. Thus, prosecution failed to prove that at the time of the incident, the accused was under intoxication of alcohol,” Judge NP Tribhuwan said.
The judge, however, stated that the prosecution succeeded in proving beyond all reasonable doubt that at the time and place of the incident, the accused drove the car rashly and negligently and collided with the motorcycle. “The deceased succumbed to his head injury which was sustained in the said incident,” the judge said.
Returning from a drunken driving check on Sept 1, 2014, sub-inspector Rajaram Desai (53) was riding pillion with constable Shankar Kadam (42) when their bike was hit by a speeding car driven by Modi, after the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road bridge at around 1.45 am.
The key eyewitness was the surviving victim, Kadam. He said that he was returning home with his colleague after completing their duty in Chembur Traffic Division. While crossing Jogeshwari bridge on Eastern Expressway around 1:30 am, their motorcycle was struck from behind by a Maruti Zen. The witness said that the impact caused both officers to fall. Desai sustained head and waist injuries, while Kadam suffered injuries to his hand, thigh, and lip. Despite efforts to revive him, Desai succumbed to his injuries in the hospital around 3 pm. The driver of the car was apprehended at the scene. Kadam identified Modi as the driver and noted a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. Modi’s identity was confirmed through his identification card. In court, too, he identified the accused.
