August 21, 2008

The BMW case--A Background



Sanjeev Nanda, the main accused in the case (born 1978) is the grandson of an ex-Chief of Naval Staff-turned businessman from New Delhi who is the prime accused to have run over and killed six people, including three policemen, in a drunken state when he drove his BMW car at high speed through a police checkpoint. The incident occurred at 4:50 AM early morning of January 10, 1999. After running through the policemen, he allegedly stopped the car to check the damage, saw people under the car, and according to the prosecution, at this point co-passenger Manik Kapoor said: ‘‘Let’s go,’’ and they quickly drove away. The car was later cleaned up by servants at a friend's house.


Sanjeev Nanda's father, Lt. Commander Suresh Nanda (ex-Indian Navy), heads the arms supply firm Crown Corporation. His grandfather S.M. Nanda, was once India's Chief of Naval Staff; after retirement he joined the arms trading business. Sanjeev Nanda is a management graduate from INSEAD and Wharton.


Subsequently Sanjeev and five others were tried in a high profile court case that dragged on for many years. Ultimately the court did not find any of the witnesses reliable and the defense was able to make the case that it was perhaps a truck and not the BMW that had caused the deaths. All the accused were released, resulting in a sharp drop in public confidence in the legal system, since it was widely believed that the witnesses had been bought off.


Sunil Kulkarni is a witness that didn't turn hostile in a Delhi Additional sessions court. The case is continuing in Delhi at present.
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