Hit-and-run case: Court reserves verdict for Sept 2

A city court reserves its verdict in the hit-and-run case in which six persons, including three policemen, were mowed down by a car allegedly driven by Sanjeev Nanda, HT reports.

After a trial spanning nine years, a city court on Tuesday reserved its verdict in the hit-and-run case in which six persons, including three policemen, were mowed down by a car allegedly driven by Sanjeev Nanda.

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The judgment will be pronounced on September 2.

“Final arguments in the case have concluded. Now the case would come up for pronouncement of judgement on September 2,” Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Kumar said, minutes after public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan wrapped up his additional arguments.

Nanda, grandson of former Naval chief Admiral S.M. Nanda, and Manik Kapoor have been tried under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), prescribing life term as maximum punishment, for mowing down six persons in Lodhi Colony on January 10, 1999.

Besides them, businessman Rajeev Gupta and his two employees — Bhola Nath and Shyam Singh — are accused under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) for allegedly washing away blood stains from the offending car at a house in Golf Links area in New Delhi.

Earlier, Nanda and other co-accused concluded advancing their final arguments on August 20 with the claim that the prosecution had “utterly” failed to establish the charges against them.

Wrapping up final arguments in the case, prosecutor Rajeev Mohan refuted the allegations that eyewitness Sunil Kulkarni cannot be trusted as he was a “liar”.

“Nowhere the defence counsel gave suggestions to Kulkarni that he was deposing in the case with some ulterior purpose or motive,” the prosecutor said.

Reaffirming the prosecution’s stand, he said that the trustworthy and believable portion of Kulkarni’s testimony should be relied against the accused.