Mumbai drunk driving accident: Woman lawyer sent to judicial custody till June 26

Mumbai: Corporate lawyer Janhvi Gadkar, who rammed her car into a taxi killing two persons here on June 9 allegedly under the influence of alcohol, was on Friday remanded to judicial custody till June 26 by a local court which rejected the police plea for her custody.

The alcohol level in the blood of 35-year-old Gadkar, who had allegedly drove the car allegedly after having drinks from a posh pub in south Mumbai, was about four times higher than the permissible limit, according to medical test reports.

Read: 2 killed as woman lawyer-driven Audi rams taxi in Mumbai

A video, purportedly shot by a person who passed by the spot when the gruesome accident happened, showed that the woman was unperturbed, asking for her 'dupatta' from people who had gathered at the site.

Remanding Gadkar to 14-day judicial custody, Magistrate Richa Khedkar of Kurla court also reprimanded the police for not showing the progress of investigation in the case diary.

Read: Mumbai drunk driving accident: Victim's family calls for justice

Soon after she was sent to the judicial custody, Gadkar moved her bail application, which will be heard on June 15.

Seeking custody of the accused, who has been slapped with charge of 304 (II) of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), police said that they wanted to record the statements of certain witnesses for which her custody was needed.

Read: Mumbai drunk driving accident: Lawyer had 4 times more alcohol than permissible level

The police also said they wanted to go to all the places where the accused visited on the night of the incident.

Gadkar's lawyer, however, held that for recording the statements of the witnesses the custody of the accused was not required. Her lawyer said she was also injured in the accident and should be sent to the judicial custody.

In the wee hours of June 10, the car driven by Gadkar rammed a taxi, resulting in death of two people including the taxi driver on the Eastern Freeway here. The deceased were identified as Mohammad Abdul Sayyad (55) and Mohammad Salim Sabuwala (50).

Read: Mumbai drunk driving case: She didn’t show any remorse, say victims’ kin

Meanwhile, medical reports of the accused's blood samples suggested that the alcohol content in her blood was four times more than the permissible limit.

"Preliminary reports have suggested that the lawyer had an intake of alcohol four times than the permissible limits," a police source said quoting initial forensic report, which confirms that she was drunk at the time of the incident on June 9.

Legally, blood alcohol concentration is permissible upto 0.03 per cent, 30 mg per 100 ml of blood. But Gadkar's sample shows the presence of about 120 mg of alcohol concentration in 100 mg of blood, said the source.

"The forensic laboratory put this (case) on priority to give the preliminary report on our request," the source said, adding that it would take a few more days for the final report to be compiled.

Read: Mumbai drunk driving: Have strong case against Janhavi Gadkar, say cops

The preliminary report came amid police's finding that Gadkar had visited a pub in south Mumbai after having six pegs of whisky at a hotel on Marine Drive on the fateful night.

"We have got CCTV footage where Janhavi is seen entering the pub. However, anything more can be said only after further investigation into the matter," RCF police station's senior inspector Dilip Raut said.

"We are trying to ascertain if she had a few more pegs after entering into the pub," Raut said.

Also, the 39-second video of the woman, which made its way to the media, has glimpses of two persons lying in unconscious state in the mangled taxi.

Its audio has a police vehicle approaching the spot with its siren blaring.

Gadkar's bail application says that section 304 (II) of Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) was not applicable in her case.

"We have said that culpable homicide not amounting to murder is not applicable against Gadkar. At the most, she can be charged with death caused due to negligence," said Gadkar's lawyer advocate Mahesh Sabnis.

The application also points out that she is injured, so she should be released on bail.