BMW hit-and-run: Court sentences Vismay Shah to 5 years imprisonment

A city court on Monday convicted Vismay Shah to five years imprisonment for driving his BMW car at breakneck speed on a busy city road in 2013 and ramming it into a motorcycle, leaving two youths dead.

Additional Sessions Judge P M Patel held 28-year-old Vismay guilty in the infamous BMW hit-and-run case and also ordered the accused to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of the two victims.

The accident occurred in February 2013, when Shah, who was driving the BMW car at a speed of about 110 kmph on the busy Judges bungalow road of the city, rammed it into a motorcycle, killing engineering student Shivam Dave, 25, and his friend Rahul Patel, 21, near Premchandnagar.

During the arguments, Public Prosecutor Pravin Trivedi told the court that Shah should be given the maximum punishment possible to set an example for others who drive recklessly on busy roads.

He also told the court that Shah showed no sympathy towards the victims, as he decided to flee from the spot instead of taking the youths to hospital.

Shah has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 304(2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), and Motor Vehicle Act. “Under this section (304-II), the maximum sentence could go up to 10 years of imprisonment,” said Trivedi. However, defence lawyer pleaded for leniency in sentence.

Vismay has been in jail for 13 months after being arrested in the case. During this time, he applied for bail 14 times in lower and higher courts. The Supreme Court had granted him bail in March 2014. 

Image: Vismay Shah, the accused in the BMW hit-and-run case, arrives at the court to hear the judgment in Ahmedabad. Photograph: PTI