The accused in the BMW crash case, Gagandeep Kaur, has been remanded to two-day judicial custody as the victim's lawyer said the cops never demanded police custody.
Gagandeep Kaur was arrested earlier on Monday after her BMW car crashed into the motorcycle of finance ministry official Navjot Singh, who died due to the accident. His wife, Sandeep Kaur, was critically injured.
The 38-year-old was produced before the court after her medical examination.
"The police demanded judicial custody and not police custody. The court has granted judicial custody for two days. The lawyer of the accused has moved a bail application today... What is important right now is that the unfortunate incident that has happened should not happen again... We will present all facts in the court... It was not just an accident of two minutes. It was an episode of a couple of hours. The decision they took was not to take the victim to a hospital, which was a minute away; instead, he was taken far away. This shows their mental and decision-making condition. We will ensure that this is presented to the court properly,” the victim's lawyer, Ishan Dewan, told news agency ANI.
Dewan stressed that the version of the events presented by Navjot Singh’s wife was the most important element. He also said that he would oppose bail for the accused.
{{/usCountry}}Dewan stressed that the version of the events presented by Navjot Singh’s wife was the most important element. He also said that he would oppose bail for the accused.
{{/usCountry}}“The version of the wife of the deceased is most important... The court has said that if any medical care is required for the accused, it will be provided in the jail... She will be produced in the court the day after tomorrow... We will oppose the bail," he added.
What did the defence lawyer say?
Advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for the BMW crash accused, alleged that the police's information provided in the press conference contradicted the FIR.
“If someone dies because of rash and negligent driving, then it is a bailable offence. If someone tries to turn it into a non-bailable offence by adding certain sections, it is unfortunate. The DCP stated that the accident happened when the car crashed at a very sharp turn. When the accident happened at a sharp turn, the forward portion of the car crashed first. Two people on a two-wheeler were hit and slammed into a DTC bus... As per the CCTV, it was not provided in the court... The accused, her husband and their children were still in the car. Their airbags also opened, and they are also injured. This is not the case of rash and negligent driving... How can this be a case of 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder),” he asked while talking to ANI.
The defence counsel also addressed the allegation that the accused took the victims to a hospital 45 minutes away in GTB Nagar.
“There is evidence that the accused talked to the doctor on the phone about their arrival and asked them to prepare for the emergency. As per the taxi driver, the doctors treated them properly. They reached the hospital within 46 minutes, and at around 2.16 AM. He (Navjot Singh) was declared brought dead,” Pahwa added.
BMW crash case
Gagandeep Kaur, who used to assist her husband in the business of cloth-based horse saddles, was driving the BMW involved in the fatal accident near Delhi Cantt metro station, and was arrested by the police on Monday.
The accident, which took place on September 14 near Dhaula Kuan around 1:30 pm, claimed the life of Navjot Singh (56), a Deputy Secretary in the Finance Ministry, while also critically injuring his wife Sandeep Kaur (54).
Navjot Singh and Sandeep Kaur were returning from Bangla Sahib Gurudwara when the BMW hit their motorcycle. The Delhi police said they are awaiting a blood sample report, amid allegations of intoxication, ANI reported.
Gagandeep said that she was returning from Gurugram, along with her husband, two kids and her maid. “During further interrogation, she could not recall the cause of the accident. She stated that the public took her out of the vehicle,” ANI quoted the police as saying.
The victim's wife, in her statement to the police earlier, alleged that the accused had ignored her pleas to be taken to the nearest hospital, adding that the driver and her husband had taken them to a distant medical facility.