Manish Khatau urged by Bombay HC not to drive

Nearly five years after being acquitted in a case of hit-and-run that claimed the life of an on-duty police constable, Manish Khatau was on Thursday “advised” by the Bombay high court to either hire a chauffeur or ask his wife-to-be to drive him around. Manish has moved the high court, seeking a modification of a previous court order that restricts him from driving in India.

Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing on behalf of Manish, started the argument with: “Such incidents take place in childhood leave behind a mark for the entire life”.

Pleading Manish’s case, Desai said, “After being acquitted by the sessions court, Manish even completed his studies abroad and has now returned to join his business, and is soon to be married. However, the high court order of allowing him to study abroad had placed this rider, which now needs a modification.”

Reminding Desai that the state government’s appeal against Manish’s acquittal was still pending in the high court, additional public prosecutor Pradeep Hingorani argued, “The victim in the said case was an on-duty police constable who died a few months after the incident. However, the application of Khatau is not served upon us, thus no reply can be filed.”

Division bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice ML Tahaliyani also reiterated the same thing and directed the applicants to circulate the application in the registry.

When Desai put forward the argued that, “In today’s world, it is impossible to move without a car”, the bench retorted with: “Why don’t you hire a chauffeur, tell your wife to drive.”