BMW hit-and-run case verdict likely today

The fate of Sanjeev Nanda, prime accused in the BMW hit-and-run incident, is likely to be decided on Tuesday by a Delhi court that is set to deliver its verdict in the case in which six persons, including three cops, were killed in 1999.

After several twists and turns in the case that spanned almost nine years, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Kumar had on August 26 reserved his verdict in the case.

Nanda, son of arms dealer Suresh Nanda and grandson of ex-Naval chief S M Nanda, and co-accused Manik Kapoor have been tried under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including section 304 part-I (culpable homicide not amounting to murder, prescribing ten years' jail term as maximum punishment.

They were booked for mowing down six persons in Lodhi Colony area in the wee hours of January 10, 1999.

Another co-accused, Sidhartha Gupta, accused by the police of being present in the car at the time of the accident, was later discharged by the Delhi High Court.

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

The trial in the high-profile case saw many twists, including the prosecution's move in 1999 to drop controversial witness Sunil Kulkarni claiming he had not seen the incident.

The prosecution condemned him as a witness who had been won-over by the accused.

Kulkarni was, later, summoned as a court witness after most of the witnesses turned hostile, leaving little credible evidence against Nanda.

Continuing with his flip-flops, Kulkarni though named Nanda as one of the occupants who alighted from the car after the incident, but said he was not in the driver's seat.

Another high-point during the trial was the sting operation carried out by a news channel to expose the nexus between former public prosecutor I U Khan and defence counsel R K Anand.
 
The sting exposed the collusion between senior defence counsel R K Anand and prosecutor I U Khan, leading to their conviction by the Delhi High Court, which also barred them from appearing in court for a few months.

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

Wrapping up the final arguments in the case, prosecutor Rajeev Mohan refuted the allegations that controversial eye-witness Sunil Kulkarni cannot be trusted as he was a 'liar' and a 'habitual cheat'.

Prosecution, seeking Nanda's conviction under harsher section 304 of the IPC alleged that he knowingly mowed down the victims.

However, the defence said at best a case of simple accident under IPC section 304A (causing death by negligence), prescribing a maximum two years jail term, was made out against the Nanda as he had no intention, whatsoever, to kill.

Six persons were killed and one person was injured in the accident involving the BMW car. Those killed in incidents were -- Mehdi Hasan, Nazir and Ghulam and three constables Rajan Kumar, Ram Raj and Perulal.