The Bombay High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the police regarding the pleas filed by Mihir Shah, the main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case, and his driver Rajrishi Bidawat. Both are seeking immediate release and claim that their arrest was ‘illegal’.
Mihir Shah was arrested on July 9, two days after he allegedly rammed his BMW into a two-wheeler in Mumbai’s Worli area, resulting in the death of Kaveri Nakhwa (45) and injuring her husband Pradeep. Bidawat, who was also in the car at the time of the accident, was arrested on the day of the alleged incident. Both are currently in judicial custody.
In their habeas corpus petitions filed in the high court last week, Shah and Bidawat argued that their detention was unlawful and requested immediate release. The pleas were heard by a division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on Wednesday. The court directed the police to file a reply affidavit and scheduled the next hearing for August 29.
Shah’s plea seeks to quash the local court’s orders that remanded him first to police custody and then to judicial custody. Shah argues that any further detention would violate constitutional mandates and fail to comply with Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This section requires the police to inform an arrested person of the full particulars of the offense or other grounds for their arrest.
Shah seeks to have his arrest declared illegal. Shah (24) is accused of fleeing towards the Bandra Worli Sea Link after the accident, with the woman remaining on the car’s bonnet and later getting entangled in its wheels for over 1.5 kilometers. Shah, who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time, had fled the scene.
Shah, his father, former Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah, and their driver Rajrishi Bidawat were all arrested in the case. While Rajesh Shah has been granted bail, Mihir Shah and Bidawat remain in judicial custody.
