BMW case Punishment reduced for Nanda-TOI LEDS21Jul2009
21 Jul 2009,
The Editor,
Times of India
Bangalore
Sir,
Apropos the disturbing finding of Delhi High court in the Nanda BMW case(TOI 21JUL 2009) that Nanda was not aware that driving while drunk (can? may?) kill.
Six people were brutally murdered by the drunk Driver ten years ago.
With injured victims still stuck under the wheels, he reversed and sped off
Another level of the judicial system albeit a lower one had already found him guilty and had sentenced him.
Any one who can consume alcohol for the "benefits" is totally aware of the "dangers" too, is the most fundamental premise of common sense.
He had no "Knowledge", witness recanted etc cannot change the reckless disregard for human life, and laws of the land this accident amply demonstrated.
Public become loathe to follow law and lose all faith in the justice system when such convoluted logic is applied to downgrade cr pc 304 part II to to 304A .
If the public perception of the justice system has eroded it has to be because Mr Citizen is haunted by questions.
cases frequently serve the rich and the famous?
Was justice done then or now?
Justice system alone is responsible for this.
Sincerely yours
M B Nataraj
BSc MS (Georgetown Universtiy, Washington DC)MT(American Medical Technologists) USA
Bangalore.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nanda gets a breather
BMW Case: Delhi HC Cuts Five-Year Term To Two Years
Smriti Singh | TNN
New Delhi: Ten years after Sanjeev Nanda had mowed down six persons in the infamous BMW hit-and-run case, and ten months after a trial court had awarded him a five-year term, the Delhi high court on Monday awarded him the maximum punishment for rash and negligent driving by sentencing him to two years of rigorous imprisonment.
The High Court differed with the trial court insofar as it didn’t agree that Nanda had the full “knowledge’’ of his speeding would lead to the death of six persons. Hence, it changed the description of his offence from manslaughter or “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” under Section 304 Part II IPC to death caused by “any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide” under Section 304A IPC. The main reason for this change, as given in his 274-page verdict by Justice Kailash Gambhir, was the transformation of Sunil Kulkarni from a key witness to an accused. Kulkarni’s testimony that just after the accident he saw Nanda and other occupants come out of the car and reversed it to flee, even though some of the victims were stuck under the bonnet, was found to be false.
The court ordered criminal proceedings against Kulkarni under Section 340 CrPC for committing offences against public justice. With the exclusion of Kulkarni’s discredited evidence, the HC held that it could not any longer attribute to Nanda the “knowledge” that the act of his driving the vehicle in his inebriated condition would result in the death of others.
Since knowledge is an essential ingredient of the charge of culpable homicide, the HC convicted Nanda of rash and negligent act on the basis of his admission at the appeal stage that he was involved in the accident and that he was at the wheel.
“Even if it is assumed that the appellant was in a state of drunkenness but still he had taken the risk of driving the vehicle knowing that his act would endanger the lives of others, but with the hope that it will not and therefore, the said act at the highest would be construed as an act of rashness on his part, which would attract Section 304 A IPC and not Section 304 part II of the IPC,” the HC observed.
As Nanda has already been in jail for 19 months, he will now require to undergo imprisonment for another five months. While deciding on the quantum of sentence for Nanda, the court declined his plea that he should be awarded less than two years of prison term on the ground that he had already disbursed Rs 65 lakh as compensation to the victims’ family. “If he was really so compassionate towards the victims, why did he take to his heels after causing the accident, knowing fully well the enormity of the casualty?” the court said.
10 YEARS ON
Jan 10, 1999: 6 people, including 3 cops, killed by a speeding BMW car driven by Nanda in Lodhi Colony
Aug 3: Charges framed under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) among others
Sep 30: Mumbai-based businessman Sunil Kulkarni, who claims to be an eyewitness, is dropped as a “won-over” man
May 30, 2007: TV sting op
shows collusion between Nanda’s counsel, R K Anand, and prosecutor I U Khan to subvert justice.
Sep 2: Trial court convicts Nanda, awards 5-yr jail term
July 20, 2009: HC upholds conviction against Nanda, reduces jail term to 2 years
SOFTENING THE BLOW: Sanjeev Nanda
The Editor,
Times of India
Bangalore
Sir,
Apropos the disturbing finding of Delhi High court in the Nanda BMW case(TOI 21JUL 2009) that Nanda was not aware that driving while drunk (can? may?) kill.
Six people were brutally murdered by the drunk Driver ten years ago.
With injured victims still stuck under the wheels, he reversed and sped off
Another level of the judicial system albeit a lower one had already found him guilty and had sentenced him.
Any one who can consume alcohol for the "benefits" is totally aware of the "dangers" too, is the most fundamental premise of common sense.
He had no "Knowledge", witness recanted etc cannot change the reckless disregard for human life, and laws of the land this accident amply demonstrated.
Public become loathe to follow law and lose all faith in the justice system when such convoluted logic is applied to downgrade cr pc 304 part II to to 304A .
If the public perception of the justice system has eroded it has to be because Mr Citizen is haunted by questions.
cases frequently serve the rich and the famous?
Was justice done then or now?
Justice system alone is responsible for this.
Sincerely yours
M B Nataraj
BSc MS (Georgetown Universtiy, Washington DC)MT(American Medical Technologists) USA
Bangalore.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nanda gets a breather
BMW Case: Delhi HC Cuts Five-Year Term To Two Years
Smriti Singh | TNN
New Delhi: Ten years after Sanjeev Nanda had mowed down six persons in the infamous BMW hit-and-run case, and ten months after a trial court had awarded him a five-year term, the Delhi high court on Monday awarded him the maximum punishment for rash and negligent driving by sentencing him to two years of rigorous imprisonment.
The High Court differed with the trial court insofar as it didn’t agree that Nanda had the full “knowledge’’ of his speeding would lead to the death of six persons. Hence, it changed the description of his offence from manslaughter or “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” under Section 304 Part II IPC to death caused by “any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide” under Section 304A IPC. The main reason for this change, as given in his 274-page verdict by Justice Kailash Gambhir, was the transformation of Sunil Kulkarni from a key witness to an accused. Kulkarni’s testimony that just after the accident he saw Nanda and other occupants come out of the car and reversed it to flee, even though some of the victims were stuck under the bonnet, was found to be false.
The court ordered criminal proceedings against Kulkarni under Section 340 CrPC for committing offences against public justice. With the exclusion of Kulkarni’s discredited evidence, the HC held that it could not any longer attribute to Nanda the “knowledge” that the act of his driving the vehicle in his inebriated condition would result in the death of others.
Since knowledge is an essential ingredient of the charge of culpable homicide, the HC convicted Nanda of rash and negligent act on the basis of his admission at the appeal stage that he was involved in the accident and that he was at the wheel.
“Even if it is assumed that the appellant was in a state of drunkenness but still he had taken the risk of driving the vehicle knowing that his act would endanger the lives of others, but with the hope that it will not and therefore, the said act at the highest would be construed as an act of rashness on his part, which would attract Section 304 A IPC and not Section 304 part II of the IPC,” the HC observed.
As Nanda has already been in jail for 19 months, he will now require to undergo imprisonment for another five months. While deciding on the quantum of sentence for Nanda, the court declined his plea that he should be awarded less than two years of prison term on the ground that he had already disbursed Rs 65 lakh as compensation to the victims’ family. “If he was really so compassionate towards the victims, why did he take to his heels after causing the accident, knowing fully well the enormity of the casualty?” the court said.
10 YEARS ON
Jan 10, 1999: 6 people, including 3 cops, killed by a speeding BMW car driven by Nanda in Lodhi Colony
Aug 3: Charges framed under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) among others
Sep 30: Mumbai-based businessman Sunil Kulkarni, who claims to be an eyewitness, is dropped as a “won-over” man
May 30, 2007: TV sting op
shows collusion between Nanda’s counsel, R K Anand, and prosecutor I U Khan to subvert justice.
Sep 2: Trial court convicts Nanda, awards 5-yr jail term
July 20, 2009: HC upholds conviction against Nanda, reduces jail term to 2 years
SOFTENING THE BLOW: Sanjeev Nanda
posted by m b nataraj | 3:44 PM
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