Court rejects bail plea of MS University law student in Vadodara car crash case that left woman dead, 7 injured
Considering the argument that MS University law student Rakshit Chaurasiya 'had the knowledge' that 'speeding through a residential area' on the eve of a festival under the influence of 'psychotropic drugs' could endanger lives, the Vadodara court on Thursday rejected the 21-year-old's regular bail plea in the March 13 Karelibaug accident case that had left one woman dead and seven others injured.
Opposing the bail, the Vadodara city police had submitted that Chaurasiya was driving the Volkswagen Virtus at a speed of 140 kmph, under the influence of a cocktail of THC (cannabis) and Codeine.
Vadodara District Government Pleader Anil Desai, who appeared for the city police, vehemently opposed the bail plea, emphasising that the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act had the provision of enhancing the 10-year sentence for Section 105 (for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to life imprisonment if the trial court so decides.
Desai said, 'Our argument was based on the fact that the accused, being a law student, was aware of the legal consequences of such an act, where he was speeding at 140 kmph through a residential area on the night of a festival (Holi) and also driving under heavy influence of psychotropic drugs, as the FSL report has confirmed.'
Desai added that the court considered the police submissions that his conduct following the accident had been 'far from remorseful' and also highlighted that Chaurasiya had given media interviews while in police custody. 'We told the court that along with the accident case, he is also under investigation for the NDPS case lodged against him, his co-passenger and car owner's son Praanshu Chauhan and a third friend Suresh Bharwad, at whose rented apartment they had consumed the drugs…,' he said.
The police affidavit before the court, opposing the bail, had stated, 'The police had collected the blood samples of the three (NDPS case) accused – Chaurasiya, Chauhan and Bharwad — at the time of the accident and sent the same to the forensic laboratory in Gandhinagar. The FSL report confirmed the presence of Tetra-Hydro Cannabinol (THC) and Codeine in the bloodstream and determined that the accused was under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident. All three persons have been booked in a separate case of NDPS.'
The affidavit filed by the Karelibaug police station, through the Investigating Officer – Police Inspector HM Vyas, also stated that the Event Data Recorder (EDR) report received from the German car maker, Volkswagen, has confirmed that the car was speeding at 140kmph when Chaurasiya crashed the vehicle into three two-wheelers.
Chaurasiya had crashed a speeding car into three two-wheelers, killing one and leaving seven others grievously hurt on the night of March 13 in Vadodara. He was arrested from the spot after being nabbed by locals and has been in judicial custody since March 17.
Desai said that the revision petition filed by the Vadodara police in the case of Chauhan — who was released by a local court after a petition contending 'illegal detention' — will be next heard on April 29.
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