Mumbai Court Denies Bail to Janhavi Gadkar

Mumbai:  A Mumbai court has for the second time rejected bail for Janhavi Gadkar, the lawyer who rammed her Audi car into an oncoming taxi while driving on the wrong side of the Eastern Freeway in an allegedly drunken state.

The 35-year-old corporate lawyer has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which carries a penalty up to 10 years in prison.

The court turned down her lawyer’s plea that Ms Gadkar could be granted bail as the investigation had been completed and that she would cooperate with investigators. The court also said being a woman and a highly qualified person were not sufficient grounds for bail when the charges are severe.

Ms Gadkar had entered the wrong side of the Eastern Freeway after a night of drinking in south Mumbai on June 9. Police had said her car had been moving at a high speed with music blaring, and that she had driven about 10 km on the wrong side.

Tests on her blood samples showed that the alcohol level in her system was thrice the permitted level for driving.

Two people who were traveling in the taxi had been killed in the accident – driver Mohammed Sayyad Hussain, 56, and Mohd Salim Sabuwala, 50, who was returning from Bhiwandi after celebrating his son’s Class 10 exam results.