[Hit & run] Delhi High Court grants bail to second-year law student, ex-bureaucrat's son

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to a 19-year-old law student and son of a retired bureaucrat, who is accused of hitting a man with his car, dragging him on the bonnet for nearly a hundred meters and then running away. [K Rajapandian v State of NCT of Delhi].Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta opined that the fact that the petitioner failed to stop the car on indication from a short distance and further drove for about 100 metres after hitting the injured doesn't conclusively prove an intention to kill. "The fact that the petitioner failed to stop the car on indication from a distance of 14-15 yards and further drove for about 100 meters with injured clung to the bonnet does not lead to a conclusive inference that injured was hit with an intention to kill. At this stage, the matter only needs to be prima facie seen for granting or declining of bail and whether an offence under Sections 307/308 IPC is made out is best to be left to be decided by the ld. Trial Court at the appropriate stage of consideration of framing of charge", the Court said in its order..Since the petitioner had been in jail for two months and the chargesheet has been filed, the court saw it fit to grant him bail subject to certain conditions.“No purpose may be served by keeping the petitioner behind the bars who happens to be a second-year student of law aged about 19 years and has clean past antecedents,” the order stated. .The High Court was dealing with the bail application of one K Rajapandian.It was alleged that on February 8 this year, he was driving a car at a very high speed with his father sitting in the front seat when he hit one Anant Vijay Mandelia, who fell on the bonnet of the car.However, the car did not stop and and it is only after moving for another 100 metres or so that brakes were applied. Mandelia then fell on the ground and the car sped away.Subsequently, he was charged with offences punishable under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 307 (attempt to murder0 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code..While considering the bail application moved by Rajapandian, the Court was informed by the Police that the CCTV footage from the area showed that the injured had signalled the vehicle to stop but the petitioner did not stop his car. The disclosure statement of the petitioner also stated that he had a passion to drive fast and would make videos of speedometers and upload them as his WhatsApp status..The High Court noted that at the time of the accident, the petitioner was accompanied by his father even though he was not in possession of a driving licence. Moreover, it inferred from the facts and circumstances of the allegations that even though the accused was well-accustomed to driving, the same was not in accordance with law since he never obtained his licence.However, the Court held that it is for the trial court to decide whether the offences alleged against the accused will stand.Therefore, the Court granted bail to the petitioner but directed him to deposit ₹10 lakh with the trial court in a fixed deposit, which may be adjusted or disbursed in proceedings for compensation to the victim by the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal or on conclusion of the trial..Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, along with advocates Rahul Gupta, Shekhar Gupta, Arav Kapoor, JP Aggarwal, Nitin Saluja, Ayushi Nagar, Priyanka Prasanth, Sheezan Hashmi and Akshat Kumar appeared for the petitioner.Additional Public Prosecutor Meenakshi Chauhan appeared for the State. The complainant was represented by advocates Tanvir Ahmed Mir, Randeep Sachdeva, Shivaang Gupta, Fahad Khan, Dhruv Pande and Naman Aggarwal..[Read Order]