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High Court reserves verdict in BMW case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has reserved its judgment on an appeal by Sanjiv Nanda against his conviction in the BMW hit-and-run case of 1999 in the Capital.

The Court reserved the judgment on conclusion of arguments by counsel for the accused and the prosecution.

Sanjiv Nanda is the son of arms dealer Suresh Nanda and grandson of former Navy Chief S.M. Nanda.

The prosecution argued that there were no errors in the trial court judgment as it had been able to prove on the basis of evidence on record that it was a fool-proof case of conviction.

Counsel for the accused submitted that the trial court had convicted him under “media pressure” and on presumption devoid of evidence.

He submitted that the trial court had erred in believing the shifting and unreliable eyewitness to the accident, Sunil Kulkarni.

He said Mr. Kulkarni was not in the Capital on the day of the accident. Apart from that, he had never told the court that Sanjiv was at the wheel when the BMW mowed down six persons, including three policemen, on Lodhi Road here in 1999.

He further stated that there was also delay in recording Mr. Kulkarni’s statement by the prosecution.

While convicting him, the trial court also had not taken into account the fact that the owner of the vehicle, his sister, had compensated the family members of the dead and the lone injured substantially on a direction by the High Court, the appeal said.

The kith and kin of the dead were given Rs.10 lakh each and the injured had received Rs.5 lakh, the appeal stated.

It also referred to the good conduct certificate given to the accused by two social activists and its disregard by the trial court.

He urged the Court to set aside the order of conviction and sentence passed by the trial court against him in the first week of this month.

The court had last year awarded five years’ rigorous imprisonment to Nanda. It had also convicted three other accused in the case.

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