The main accused in the recent BMW accident, in which a senior Union finance ministry official was killed, told the court hearing her bail plea on Wednesday that the accident was not “criminally motivated.
NEW DELHI: The main accused in the recent BMW accident, in which a senior Union finance ministry official was killed, told the court hearing her bail plea on Wednesday that the accident was not “criminally motivated”.Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for accused Gaganpreet Makkad, told the court of judicial magistrate first class Ankit Garg that she had tried to save 52-year-old Navjot Singh. The court extended Makkad’s judicial custody till Sept 27.Following Makkad’s request, the judge issued a notice to police for preserving the CCTV footage of the accident. While the footage appeal will be taken up on Thursday, the arguments on the bail plea will be heard on Saturday. Gupta objected to police converting an accident into a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and pointed out a 10-hour delay in the registration of the FIR. Claiming that Makkad had left her injured husband and children on the spot as she wanted to arrange medical treatment for Singh, Gupta said, “Everyone in such a situation tries to save lives. What else could have been her intention?”The senior advocate said the criticism that Singh should have been taken to Safdarjung Hospital, just 10 minutes away, could not be determinative. Calling for a fair investigation, Gupta said Supreme Court had held that this lay at the heart of the judicial system and police must collect “real” evidence.The counsel for Singh’s wife, Atul Kumar, said Makkad was not seriously injured and, despite being aware that each minute counted when someone was gravely hurt, she took Singh to a hospital 20km away.Alleging that she tampered with evidence, Kumar claimed that Makkad had got herself admitted to the ICU of a hospital and prepared a “false” MLC after five hours. “She was driving at such a speed that the BMW turned turtle,” he alleged.The counsel also claimed that the van driver carrying the injured couple also said he had insisted on taking Singh to the nearest hospital, but Makkad turned a deaf ear to him. “Why didn’t you call an ambulance? The base hospital was minutes away.”Singh was killed near Delhi Cantonment metro station on Sunday afternoon when he was returning home in west Delhi’s Hari Nagar with his wife, Sandeep Kaur, on a bike. Makkad was remanded in two days of judicial custody on Sept 15.
