In a new twist to the BMW hit-and-run case trial, a medical expert on Thursday told a Delhi court that a blood test on prime accused Sanjeev Nanda just after the incident had proved that he was under the influence of liquor.
"As per traffic rules, a person is under the influence of liquor if the blood contains 30 mg or above per 100 ml of blood, wherever in the present case, it was much above it. As per my report, it was 115 mg/ml," doctor Madhulika Sharma told Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Kumar.
Sharma, then a resident doctor of AIIMS, had performed the blood alcohol estimation test on Nanda, grandson of former Navy Chief S M Nanda, on January 10, 1999. Nanda had been arrested by the police for allegedly mowing down six people with his black BMW car near Lodhi Hotel in New Delhi.
Sharma was questioned by the defence, which had sought an opportunity to cross-examine her, contending that her questioning was necessary in view of the surfacing of some incriminating evidence during the testimony of eye-witness Sunil Kulkarni.
Sharma, who had earlier recorded her statements as a prosecution witness in 2000, today stuck to her stand and reiterated that the alcohol content in the blood of Nanda clearly established that he was then in an inebriated state.
Her testimony assumes importance as the prosecution has claimed that Nanda, who was at the steering of the car, had run over six people in the wee hours of the fateful day in a drunken state.
