The Bombay HC asked the state govt to provide a list of all the police officers, doctors and RTO officers related to hit-and-run case allegedly involving Pereira case.
MUMBAI: Pointing out that the judiciary should not be blamed if police and prosecutors do their job in a shoddy manner, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the state government to provide a list of all the police officers, doctors and RTO officers related to hit-and-run case allegedly involving Alister Pereira case.
Seven construction workers died and eight others were injured when the Toyota Corolla driven by Pereira, son of a businessman, ran over them on November 12 last year.
The division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Ranjana Desai is currently hearing a suo-motu PIL on the issue of shoddy investigation and prosecution of the case, which resulted in Pereira getting a mere six months' sentence in the sessions court.
After examining the RTO officer, investigation officers and doctors who conducted the post-mortem, the court on Tuesday grilled Assistant Sub-Inspector Janardan Madane who was in the police mobile van which reached the accident spot first.
Madane was asked whether he checked the pulse of the people lying motionless on the road and he answered in the negative.
His explanation was that he and other policemen were busy moving the injured to the hospital.
However, his reply shocked the judges. After finishing with him, the judges said "this man doesn't even bother to check the pulse of injured people...Mr Advocate General,please ask your men whether they have been fair to their jobs."
Saying that both the probe as well as the prosecution of the case have been "irresponsible", the judges said "why judicial officers should share the blame for their irresponsible jobs?."
The relatively lighter sentence that Pereira received had led to a national outcry.
Earlier, Madane said in his reply that when his van reached the spot after being alerted by police control room, he saw people lying motionless on the road and there were three persons in the car.
The judges immediately pointed out that nowhere the case record shows that there were three persons sitting on the front seat of the car.
Madane also mentioned that the right-side front wheel had come off. Earlier, the judges had raised a question how the wheel could come out with no visible damage to the remaining wheel assembly.
Asked if there were any other marks than the tyre marks, Madane said there weren't.
The court had already heard the state government's appeal for enhancement of Pereira's sentence and also his own appeal against the conviction.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned till August 1.
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