BMW accident: Is informing grounds of arrest indispensable formality in hit-&-run cases, Bombay HC wonders

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday remarked that informing an accused the grounds of arrest would be an "empty formality" in cases such as a hit-and-run accident, and its non-compliance should not matter so much.

The court made the observation while reserving its order on petitions for release filed by Mihir Shah, son of a former Shiv Sena leader who is accused of ramming his BMW car into a woman here and causing her death, and his driver.

The petitions by Shah (24) and his driver Rajrishi Bidawat claimed that police failed to comply with section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure when they were arrested.

Under this section, the police, while arresting a person, have to communicate full particulars of the offence for which he or she is being arrested.

The division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said it was aware of the law and several judgments passed by the Supreme Court on the issue, but wondered if an accused can claim that the arrest was vitiated for this sole reason in cases such as a hit-and-run accident or a murder.

"The accident has taken place...the persons have been apprehended red-handed, then why should the issue of grounds of arrest crop up? This is a case where it clearly leads to the accused. The lady was rammed into.....the car was there. The accused was in such a hurry that he forgot his Fastag card (for toll payment) at the Bandra Worli Sea Link toll," the HC said.

"How can it be said that the arrest is vitiated only because grounds of arrest were not informed. According to us, it is an empty formality," the court said.

The facts and circumstances of each case are different, and it needs to be dealt with accordingly, the judges said.

"This is a testing case for us. In a scenario where the chain of circumstances clearly establishes the case...what is the propriety of informing the grounds of arrest to the accused," the court further wondered.

The bench said it would pass its order on November 21.

"We are not going to touch the merits of the case. We are only on whether the necessity of mentioning the grounds of arrest was required or not," said the judges.

Mihir Shah was arrested on July 9, two days after he allegedly rammed his BMW car into a two-wheeler in Mumbai's Worli area, killing Kaveri Nakhwa (45) and leaving her husband Pradeep injured.

His driver Bidawat, who was also in the car at the time, was arrested hours after the accident. Both are presently in judicial custody.

In their `habeas corpus' petitions, Shah and Bidawat claimed their detention was illegal, and they must be released immediately.

Shah also sought quashing of the orders passed by a local court remanding him in police custody first, and then in judicial custody.

According to police, Shah sped off towards Bandra-Worli Sea Link after the accident and continued to drive for more than 1.5 kilometres even when the woman first landed on the bonnet of the car and then got entangled in its wheels.

He was drunk, police alleged.

Shah, his father and former leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena Rajesh Shah, as well as driver Bidawat were arrested. Rajesh Shah was granted bail later.