Nagpur: The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the pre-arrest bail application filed by Ritika alias Ritu Dinesh Maloo who is accused of driving the Mercedes car that killed two people on Ram Jhula in Nagpur on February 25 this year.
Earlier, the Government Pleader Devendra Chauhan informed the High Court that after consuming liquor at two restaurants in the same club, Ritika Maloo drove 3.8km in less than 3 minutes just before her Mercedes rammed the scooter of the two victims on Ram Jhula. The HC bench of Justice Urmila S Joshi-Phalke was hearing Maloo’s anticipatory bail plea.
Maloo has also written a letter to the police saying her friend Madhuri Sarda was driving the car in question and not her, the court was informed. The court closed the matter for order after hearing both sides in a packed courtroom.
Chauhan, arguing for Ritika’s arrest, gave the High Court minute-to-minute details with the help of CCTV footage of the 2.56 minutes it took for Maloo’s car to travel 3.8km from a private club at Civil Lines to Ram Jhula bridge. The CCTV footage was played before court for reference.
Chauhan laid out the sequence of events leading to the death of two persons on Ram Jhula on February 25 before the High Court. “After leaving the club, Ritika Maloo, the accused, reached GPO Square at 1.35am, Akashvani Chowk at 1.36.44am and another 15 seconds to reach RBI Square at 1.36.57 seconds, where the car visibly jumped off the road, and reached Jaisthambh Chowk at 1.37.50am,” said Chauhan. He said CCTVs and club bills show the accused had food and liquor at two restaurants back-to-back in the same club within a short span, before clicking a selfie with her friend (Madhuri Sarda).
“The case is in gross violations of the Central Government’s zero toleration policy against drunk driving. The Bombay High Court and the apex court have in several cases highlighted this while refusing to protect the perpetrators,” said Chauhan, adding that Maloo never appeared before the police after being granted ad-interim protection on March 13. “She sent a letter about heading to Rajasthan to attend to her ailing father and would be available through audio-visual medium. She never appeared again before the police nor did she furnish any documents to support her claim of father’s ailment,” said Chauhan.
“Instead of heading to Mayo hospital, barely 500 meters away from the accident spot, she travelled several kilometres away to get admitted,” said Chauhan, adding that she flouted the norms under section 185 of Central Motor Vehicles Act by driving under the influence of alcohol.
The reports by Regional Forensic Science Laboratory had found 30mg of alcohol in her blood, samples of which had been collected 6 hours after the accident. The woman also violated section 134 by fleeing the spot without offering help to the victims or alerting the authorities, he said. “The CCTV footage shows how the woman in question negotiated key junctions,” he said.
Senior counsel Sunil Manohar, who represented the applicant, argued that the police had no permission or court order to arrest the accused. “There is still a revision petition pending before the court.There is no court order directing to arrest her. She was also adequately represented before the police,” said Manohar. “The CCTV timings and distance covered leads to a calculation that the speed of the woman in question was well within 50kmph to 70kmph,” said Manohar and cannot be termed as ‘breakneck’ speed.
Key accused in the Ram Jhula accident case, Ritika Maloo had written to the Tehsil police that it was her friend Madhuri Sarda who was at the wheel and not her. Government pleader Devendra Chauhan informed this to Bombay high court’s Nagpur bench of justice Urmila S Phalke-Joshi during the hearing of Maloo’s anticipatory bail plea.
Quoting the case diary, Chauhan said, two days after she was asked to be present before the police, Maloo, in a signed letter to Tehsil police station, said Sarda was at the wheel and not her. She had also mentioned that it was Sarda who had consumed alcohol and could not restart the car later. “In the hospital where she took treatment, she said her driver was behind the wheel of the car,” said Chauhan.
