Mumbai: Accused Sumer Merchant, 23, arrested in connection with knocking down tech firm CEO Rajalakshmi Vijay in the early hours of March 19, moved the sessions court seeking bail a day after his bail plea before a city magistrate court was rejected.
In his bail plea before the magistrate, he had said that the incident happened at a blind spot and he had not seen the victim.
He has also expressed “doubt” on the FSL report showing alcohol content in his blood sample and questioned how the breath analyser test did not show he was inebriated.
"The applicant states that the breath analyser did not reflect that the applicant was under the influence of liquor, in immediate consequence to the alleged incident. The applicant was arrested and sent for medical examination in the afternoon, after quite a few hours of the alleged incident. The samples from the FSL revealed alcohol in the applicant's blood. It is not the case of the prosecution that the breath analysers of Worli Police Station were not working. This creates a doubt on the FSL reports.." he stated in a plea filed through advocate Anjali Patil.
Victim's husband opposes plea
He had further said that he is not liable to be charged under more stringent provisions of culpable homicide as it was at the maximum, an offence of negligence causing death. Along with the prosecution, the victim’s husband had opposed his plea before the magistrate.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
