Enhancement of charges in 2012 BMW mishap case; Bombay High Court might appoint amicus curiae

The Bombay High Court has opined that it might appoint an amicus curiae (friend of court) to deliver justice in a bunch of fatal road mishap cases. This came during the hearing of a case involving Aarti Shetty, an accused in a road accident that killed one woman and injured three in 2012.

A petition has been filed in the HC for enhancing the charges against Aarti from death due to negligence to culpable homicide not amounting to murder – the change in charges may attract a maximum punishment of 10 years from two years.

Advocate Prakash Wagh, who is representing the victim's family, said, "The court maintained that it was handling three to four cases, which are on similar lines. Hence, it said that it might appoint an amicus curiae and then decide whether to include the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in such cases. So far, the HC has not passed any orders in this regard."

Aarti, wife a Chembur logistics company owner, had allegedly rammed her BMW car into an auto rickshaw in the early hours of November 1, 2012, killing Mubin Zahira Sayyed and injuring three. The police had earlier booked her for death due to negligent driving, but Zahira's son Sayyad Ali Raza filed a petition in the HC, seeking enhancement of the charges.