‘She had complete knowledge’: Gadkar must be tried for murder, says prosecution

In June 2015, the corporate lawyer took an unauthorised U-turn on the Eastern Freeway and drove on the wrong side for over two kilometers

MUMBAI: Corporate lawyer Jahnavi Gadkar had complete knowledge that driving under the influence of alcohol through the wrong side of the road could result in a fatal accident. She still chose to indulge in the act in June 2015, when her car collided head-on with a taxi on the Eastern Freeway, leading to the death of the driver and a passenger, the prosecution told the sessions court on Thursday, urging that she be tried for murder.

‘She had complete knowledge’: Gadkar must be tried for murder, says prosecution

“She was driving on the wrong side for two kilometers after taking a U-turn and she drove through the middle of the road,” public prosecutor Iqbal Solkar submitted before the court on Thursday. “She avoided calls and shouts made by passersby, which prove that her intention was clear,” the prosecutor further noted, relying on statements of multiple eyewitnesses who said they had called out to her while she was driving through the wrong side.

According to the prosecution, on June 8, 2015, Gadkar and her colleagues visited a south Mumbai hotel to celebrate the success of a company project. They consumed alcohol there and headed for Marine Drive in her Audi Q3 car at around 10pm. At around 12.30am on June 9, she left in her car for her home in Chembur via the Eastern Freeway. But she took an unauthorised U-turn along the route and drove on the wrong side of the highway for over two kilometers till her car rammed into a taxi coming from the opposite direction.

Gadkar spent 58 days behind bars before she was granted bail by the sessions court on August 5, 2015.