Delhi BMW crash: Accused driver deliberately delayed informing police, court told

The court later adjourned the matter to Thursday, asking the police to produce CCTV footage pertaining to the incident

NEW DELHI

The car involved in the accident. (HT)

The Delhi Police on Wednesday told a city court that Gaganpreet Makkad, who was behind the wheel of a BMW that mowed down central finance ministry employee 52-year-old Navjot Singh, deliberately delayed informing the police about the incident and “wasted golden hour trauma care” by admitting the victims to a nursing home linked to her family, instead of a multispeciality hospital in the vicinity. The court later adjourned the matter to Thursday, asking the police to produce CCTV footage pertaining to the incident.

The submissions were made by additional public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava before Judicial Magistrate First Class Ankit Garg of Patiala House Courts, while opposing Makkad’s bail application.

Showing the court the website of Nulife Hospital, where the victims were admitted, Shrivastava said, “The hospital has 20% discount and it is not even a hospital…it is a nursing home…there are multiple hospitals just minutes away from the crash site at Dhaula Kuan…for example, in the mid-way, there is Base Hospital with much better facilities”.

On September 14, Navjot Singh and his wife Sandeep Kaur were travelling on the Ring Road in their two-wheeler in the afternoon, when a speeding BMW mowed them down, killing Singh. HT previously reported that the police’s investigation centred on why the accused had admitted the victims to a hospital located 19 kilometres from the spot of the incident, bypassing nearby facilities, such as the AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital.

Opposing Makkad’s bail plea, Shrivastava contended that the incident was fit to attract charges under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, alleging deliberate negligent conduct by Makkad after the accident, which showed that the accused “had no intent to save the deceased, but instead save themselves by avoiding any legal proceeding”.

The prosecutor said that Kaur, the prime eyewitness in the incident, had repeatedly asked Makkad to take them to the nearest hospital. “There is a golden hour principle in cases of trauma wherein if an injured person is taken to the nearest hospital, there are definite chances of survival…there is AIIMS Trauma Centre much before Nulife, there is Safdarjung Hospital and Vardhaman Hospital, to name other few top hospitals,” he submitted.

The prosecutor contended that Makkad’s “mala fide intent was clear” from the fact that the hospital, owned by her uncle’s son, gave information to the police about Singh and Kaur’s admission at 4.20pm, three hours after Singh had died. “The MLCs (medico-legal reports) of Navjot, Sandeep and Gaganpreet do not mention their time of arrival and this shows tampering,” the prosecutor told the court.

Citing a police statement given by Makkad’s relative, who was present at Nulife Hospital, the prosecutor said, “A friend of Makkad family said there were no treatment options there…he stated that Gaganpreet was admitted to ICU while Sandeep had been lying at the stretcher in the lobby for a long time, even as Gaganpreet’s husband, Parikshit Makkad, was being treated for his nose fracture”.

Shrivastava submitted that accused’s MLC was only prepared at 7pm, over five hours after the incident. “The intent was to not let police know about the incident…Navjot could have been saved…accused and her family members are regular visitors of areas around South Delhi and hence, they know about good hospitals…if not, could have at least asked about nearby hospitals or looked at Google maps…accused was not serious about the accident,” the prosecutor said.

Shrivastava said that CCTV footage of the incident, which will be produced in court on Thursday, clearly showed Makkad’s BMW hit Navjot’s two-wheeler at a high-speed from behind, before turning turtle.

Senior advocate Pradeep Rana, representing Makkad, argued that the CCTV footage shows the two-wheeler crashing into the BMW from behind, and subsequently hitting a bus, which has yet to be seized. He contended that it was not even a case of causing death by a rash or negligent act, let alone culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

“The woman is not a doctor nor a nurse…the deceased and his wife reached the Nulife Hospital in 24 minutes…the incident took place around 1.30pm…we have checked the average time taken to reach other hospitals on Google Maps during the same period…it is more or less the same…,” he said.

Further, he contended that Makkad was anxious as her family was also injured, and that Kaur was initially fine with being taken to Nulife Hospital but raised objection after Singh was declared dead.

Makkad’s counsel also moved an application, seeking preservation of the internet browsing history of Gulfam, a tempo driver who took Makkad and the victims to Nulife Hospital, to show the court that the accused searched for all hospitals through his phone before taking them to Nulife. The court sought the police’s reply on the same.