BMW crash: Delhi courts sends driver to 2-day judicial custody, accused moves bail plea

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday sent a woman, who allegedly drove the BMW car involved in the crash that killed a senior Finance Ministry official and left his wife injured in Dhaula Kuan, to two-day judicial custody.

Duty Magistrate Akanksha Singh sent Gaganpreet Kaur (38) to judicial custody after she was produced before the judge at her residence, and said her custodial interrogation was not required, her counsel, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa said.

The judge also issued notice to Delhi Police and victim's kin on the bail application moved by Kaur, and directed to file their replies by September 17, when the court concerned will hear the matter.

Kaur was arrested on culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other charges on Monday after being discharged from a hospital, police said.

Several questions were raised on the handling of the aftermath of the crash as the FIR alleged that Kaur, took the victims, Navjot Singh and his wife Sandeep Kaur, to a healthcare facility more than 19 kilometres away from the accident site instead of any nearby hospital.

Also, the victims' family alleged that Gaganpreet and her husband were treated before Navjot and his wife despite their serious injuries.

Pahwa opposed police plea seeking judicial custody, saying FIR was delayed by 10 hours.

He said the allegations were contradictory to the press conference held by the DCP, the CCTV recording of the accident and the statement of those who took the injured and the deceased to the hospital.

"The DCP has stated that the CCTV shows that the BMW first hit the divider on the curve from the front, and the back of the BMW, therefore hit the two wheeler, and then the two wheeler hit the DTC bus because of which this incident happened, and unfortunately, one person died," he told the judge.

Pahwa added that there was no need to arrest the woman as she was already in the hospital.

"Since police custody demand has not even been sought, where was the need to take her into custody and send her to jail? Since no recovery was supposed to be made and no accused was need to be identified, where was the need or necessity for the arrest," Pahwa asked.

There was no knowledge that the act of the perpetrator will result into death of the deceased, he further said, adding that the accused "tried her best to give them the medical treatment".

"The reason for her to take to the hospital was because of what she remembered as she herself was traumatised and thought that she would be able to get better treatment for the injured and the deceased in that hospital. There is no other reason which can be attributed to the lady in this regard. Since she herself was injured, the argument of the prosecution that she did this, for an oblique purpose is completely absurd and preposterous," Pahwa added.

A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against Gaganpreet under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The sections invoked include 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 125B (acts endangering life or personal safety of others), 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender).

According to the FIR, Navjot Singh, a resident of Hari Nagar, was killed when the BMW rammed into his motorcycle on Ring Road around 1.30 PM on Sunday. His wife sustained multiple injuries and a fracture and remains under treatment.

Gaganpreet, wife of Parikshit Makkar, is a resident of Gurugram. She and her husband, along with their two children and a maid, were in the BMW at the time of the crash. Her husband also sustained minor injuries.

The accused woman took Navjot Singh and his wife to Nulife Hospital, which is owned by one of her relatives, in north Delhi's GTB Nagar, more than 19 kilometres away from the accident site. Navjot's family alleged that the small hospital, where Singh was declared "brought dead", was linked to the accused.

When questioned why she did not take them to a nearby hospital, accused Gaganpreet claimed that she panicked and only knew about that hospital because her children had been treated there during the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior police official said.

Police sources said that there is a possibility of tampering with the medical reports of the accused woman who underwent treatment at the hospital and the matter is under investigation.

In her statement to police, Sandeep Kaur said she had repeatedly pleaded with Kaur and her spouse to take them to the nearest hospital as her husband was unconscious and needed immediate treatment.