Worli Hit and Run: Bombay High Court rejects plea by accused against arrest

The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed pleas filed by Mihir Shah and his driver Rajrishi Bindawat challenging their arrest in relation to the BMW hit-and-run incident in Worli in which 45-year-old Kaveri Nakhwa was killed last month.

A bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande rejected the petition by accused who had claimed that the arrest was illegal.

The incident occurred on July 7 when Shah, allegedly drunk, rammed his BMW into a two-wheeler in Worli, killing Kaveri and injuring her husband Pradeep. Kaveri's body was dragged for over 1.5 kilometers before the car came to a stop. Shah fled the scene but was arrested two days later.

Shah, 24, is the son of Rajesh Shah, a Shiv Sena leader associated with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

While Rajesh Shah was granted bail, Mihir and Bindawat remain in judicial custody.

The petitioners argued that the police failed to provide proper grounds for their arrest, as required by Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and that their fundamental rights to personal liberty were violated due to illegal detention. They sought the quashing of the remand orders and their immediate release.

The bench questioned whether it was necessary to inform the accused of the grounds for arrest, given that they were apprehended "red-handed."

The Court noted that this case would serve as a "test case" to evaluate whether informing the accused about the grounds for arrest was essential when the evidence clearly pointed to their involvement.

Public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar opposed the petition, arguing that the accused were fully aware of the charges against them.