The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a BEST bus driver involved in a fatal accident, raising serious concerns about the inadequate practical training provided for operating electric buses in Mumbai.
The Bombay High Court has granted bail to the driver of a BEST bus which mowed down nine persons in Mumbai's Kurla area in December 2024, and termed it as "shocking" that the drivers received no practical training of operating electric buses.
Justice R M Joshi on March 30 granted bail to Sanjay More, the driver, on a personal bond of Rs 15,000. More was in jail since his arrest immediately after the accident.
In the order, made available on Thursday, the court said More had experience of driving conventional buses. But "shockingly, no practical training was given to the drivers" to operate electric buses on city roads, it said.
The accused, in his plea, had pointed out that as per the medical report, he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident.
The high court pointed out that the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), a civic-run undertaking, was contractually required to provide at least seven days of training to drivers.
However, for the reasons best known to the administration, the training period was curtailed to three days and limited to simulator sessions without any on-road practice, the HC said.
"There could absolutely be no justification for not providing adequate training to the drivers before they are called upon to drive buses carrying passengers on busy roads in Mumbai," it added.
The decision to cut short the training and skip field exposure apparently led to this painful incident, Justice Joshi said.
The court added that it would be easy to say that More should have refused to drive an electric bus without proper training, but when employment is scarce, a person can not refuse a job.
The bench also took note of the fact that he was in custody since his arrest in December 2024 and the trial was not likely to be over in the near future.