Sessions Court relief for Anant Singhania in rash driving case

The police cannot proceed against Anant Singhania, a cousin of industrialist and Raymond Group chief Gautam Singhania, in a two-year-old alleged case of rash driving, the Sessions court has said.

The court ruled in favour of Singhania, saying the Worli police had failed to file the charge sheet in the case within the required time frame.

The police had booked Singhania under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code, which prescribes a maximum punishment of 6 months with or without fine, and Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act, alleging that he had been found speeding in a Ferrari.

In such a case, according to the law, the charge sheet has to be filed within a year of registration of the first information report (FIR). "However, in the case, the charge sheet was filed on April 26, 2018, while the offence had taken place on March 21, 2016. Thus it is beyond the period of one year," observed the court as it granted relief to Singhania.

According to the police, Deven Bharti, the then joint commissioner of police (law and order) first saw a car zooming in south Mumbai. He alerted the Worli police who traced a Ferrari that was allegedly being driven exceedingly fast. On checking the driver's licence, the police found that Anant Singhania was at the wheel.

Singhania's lawyer also punched holes in the proceedings initiated by the lower court. He said the lower court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Singhania on the grounds that he had failed to appear before it on given dates. The advocate contended that the court never issued a bailable warrant and instead directly issued a non-bailable warrant, which was legally wrong.