In a major setback, a sessions court here refused bail to Sanjay More, driver of a BEST bus which met with a tragic accident last month killing seven persons. A bench headed by Additional Sessions Judge V M Pathade said that More was driving the vehicle in a rash and negligent manner and therefore his plea on defect in the vehicle could not be believed.
On January 10, the court had refused More’s bail application, while stating that his claims about a technical or mechanical failure were not substantiated by prima facie evidence. Though he had claimed poor maintenance or brake failure as the cause of the accident, prima facie material to substantiate that was not found by the court.
A report from the Regional Transport Office said that no mechanical fault was found in the bus. The court said, “In this view of the matter, it is hard to believe that there was any mechanical/technical fault or brake failure in the bus which resulted in the very unfortunate mishap.”
The judge also said the incident could have been dangerous not only to the passengers on board but to the people traveling on the busy road. “It is prima facie seen that the applicant accused was driving the bus in a very rash and negligent manner, irrespective of the fact that the road was being used by several others and there were several passengers in the bus too,” the order said.
In light of the gravity of the offense and punishment applicable, taking note of sections in Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as well as Motor Vehicle Act, bail could not be granted, it ruled.
The shocking incident occurred on December 9 this year in which over 40 people received injuries when the e-bus ran amok ramming pedestrians and vehicles below Kurla railway station while the undertaking by BEST.
More was arrested on the same night, but he always contended, as a professional driver, the accident took place due to some unforeseen mechanical snag in the bus. But during prosecution, his plea was vehemently contradicted by quoting RTO’s report confirming the good condition of the bus at the time of the accident.
