A local court sent Jahnvi Gadkar, the corporate lawyer whose drunk driving allegedly led to two deaths on the Eastern Freeway earlier this week, to 14 days’ judicial custody on Friday.
Police sought a further extension of her custody arguing that they had yet not established the sequence of events leading up to the accident, particularly the length of stretch for which the accused lawyer allegedly drove on the wrong side of the freeway.
The prosecution told the court that it wanted to know that at which point, Jahnvi drove her high-end Audi Q3 into the freeway where it rammed into a cab leaving its driver Sayyed and a passenger Saleem Sabuwala dead and four other members of the Sabuwala family injured.
During interrogation, Jahnvi is learnt to have told the police that she had consumed whiskey to celebrate a corporate deal just before the accident. According to sources, the amount of alcohol found in Gadkar’s body was several times the permissible limit. Defense counsel opposed this and said all the recoveries were made and Ms. Gadkar had spent time in police custody.
He added that Jahnvi, who sustained internal injuries, needed medical attention which was not possible in police custody. He further questioned charging his client with culpable homicide as she was not aware what her actions could lead to.
Jahnvi, Vice-President (Legal) at Reliance Industries Limited, also moved her bail application at the Kurla which will come up for hearing on June 15.
Friends likelyto be quizzed Police, meanwhile, are likely to question one of Ms. Gadkar’s friends whom she met before the accident to find out more on what happened on the night of the accident.
The family of Salim Sabuwala has further alleged that Jahnvi tried to bribe the policemen who reached the spot after the accident. So far, Mumbai Police have not made it clear whether they would look into those allegations also.
