1999 Delhi hit-and-run case: Difference between revisions

{{pp-move-indef|small=yes}}{{EngvarB|date=May 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}Six persons, including three police officers were killed by a speeding [[BMW E38]] in the [[Lodhi Colony]] area of [[Delhi]], [[India]], on 10 January 1999. After following trails of the engine oil, police found the BMW at 50 Golf Links, the residence of Rajeev Gupta. It was then revealed that Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of [[Chief of the Naval Staff (India)|Indian Navy Chief]] and son of Indian arms dealer [[Suresh Nanda]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Sanjeev Nanda's rough ride to jail in a BMW|url=http://www.sify.com/news/sanjeev-nandas-rough-ride-to-jail-in-a-bmw-news-national-jegxiMahieisi.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810031844/http://www.sify.com/news/sanjeev-nandas-rough-ride-to-jail-in-a-bmw-news-national-jegxiMahieisi.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 August 2014|website=www.sify.com|publisher=SIFY|access-date=7 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Will the real Sanjeev Nanda stand up? |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29649839.cms |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512094057/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29649839.cms |archive-date=12 May 2015 }}</ref> was driving the car after returning from a party with Siddhartha Gupta (son of Rajeev Gupta), and Manik Kapoor.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2 September 2008|title=Sanjeev Nanda, 3 others convicted in BMW hit-and-run case|work=Zee News|url=https://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/sanjeev-nanda-3-others-convicted-in-bmw-hit-and-run-case_466051.html}}</ref>While Nanda and several related parties were initially acquitted and released in a trial in 1999,<ref name="ndtv">{{cite web |first=Ruksh   |last=Chatterji  |publisher = [[NDTV]] |title = BMW case: Still searching for justice |date= 3 August 2003 |url= http://origin.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=&id=41113&callid=1 |access-date=16 August 2006}}{{dead link|date=September 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> he was later found guilty in 2008 and sentenced to two years in prison, which was reduced to time served, a large fine, and two years of community service by the Indian Supreme Court in 2012.<ref name="thehindu2012" /> The case attracted media attention, and was viewed by ''[[India Today]]'' as "a test of the judicial system's ability to take on the powerful".<ref name="india-today">[https://archive.today/20130219014203/http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?issueid=&id=14673&option=com_content&task=view&sectionid=4 indiatoday.digitaltoday.in]</ref>== Hit-and-run case ==In the early morning of 10 January 1999, Sanjeev Nanda was returning from a late night party in Gurgaon with some friends.Nanda had reportedly been instructed by his parents not to drive that night, but was driving anyway.<ref name=bhosle>{{cite news|first=Varsha  |last=Bhosle|work = rediff.com|title = Purchase of absolution|date= 4 February 1999|url= http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/feb/04varsha.htm|access-date=16 August 2006}}</ref> There was a police checkpoint on Lodhi Road and it appears that the constable may have challenged the car, though it is also possible that the car was going so fast that it was out of control.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}} Sanjeev's BMW crashed through all the people at the police checkpoint, immediately killing two constables and two others. Another policeman and another bystander died later in hospital. The seventh victim survived.<ref name=indnet>{{ cite news |publisher = India Network News Digest |title = A day's custody for three in BMW case |url=http://listserv.indnet.org/cgi/wa.cgi?A2%3Dind9901%26L%3Dindia-l%26P%3D805  |access-date=16 August 2006  |url-status=dead  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204110222/http://listserv.indnet.org/cgi/wa.cgi?A2=ind9901&L=india-l&P=805  |archive-date=4 February 2012 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016}}</ref>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 a co-passenger said: "Let's go," and they quickly drove away.<ref name=indExpr>{{ cite web |work=[[Indian Express]]  |title=BMW case: Nanda says he had beer that night  |date=3 January 2003  |url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=72227  |access-date=16 August 2006  |url-status=dead  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050101130303/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=72227  |archive-date=1 January 2005 }}</ref> The car was then driven to a house in [[Golf Links, New Delhi]], where a watchman and driver were instructed to clean the bumpers and bonnet of the car. Subsequently, the police charged these three with destroying evidence. A few days later, a witness came forward to describe the scene. At the time of the crash, he was on his way to the railway station.<ref name=ndtv />==NDTV sting operation==[[NDTV]] carried out a [[sting operation]] in which defence attorneys were filmed offering money to a witness. Later the Delhi High Court debarred the advocates for four months.<ref name=hindu>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080905110922/http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/03/stories/2008090360271200.htm Sanjeev Nanda's friend acquitted]</ref>==Investigation==The vehicle's broken registration plate was found on the scene the next morning. Preliminary investigations revealed that the car would have been going at 140&nbsp;km/h when it hit the victims.<ref name=bhosle />Within a few hours of the incident, Inspector Jagdish Pandey of the Police Control Room of Delhi Police traced the car by trailing the oil leak to the grade from the spot of the accident.<ref name=tribune>{{cite news|publisher=The Tribune, Chandigarh |title=Police team rewarded for nabbing mishap suspects |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99jan12/nation.htm |date=11 January 1999 |access-date=17 August 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051115201748/http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99jan12/nation.htm |archive-date=15 November 2005 }}</ref> They found the one-month-old car, purchased in his sister Sonali Nanda's name, with foreign number plates, which had not been registered in India. Attempts to clean it were still in progress. Nanda and his friends were arrested, but his clothes, and those of the others who helped clean the car, were never found. Nanda and his friends were charged with [[culpable homicide]] in court.<ref name=indnet/>==Re-trial==The case went up for re-trial and was tried on a fast-track basis. On 2 September 2008, Nanda was convicted by a Delhi court for killing six persons. On 3 August 2012 the Supreme Court reduced his prison sentence to the two years he had already spent in prison, but the court added a large fine, and sentenced Nanda to do community service for two years.<ref name=thehindu2012>{{cite news| url= http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3721612.ece|title= BMW hit-and-run: Court slaps Rs. 50 lakh fine on Nanda | date= 4 August 2012 | location=Chennai, India| work=The Hindu}}</ref>==In popular culture==The case inspired the [[Bollywood]] movie ''[[Jolly LLB]]'' (2013) starring [[Arshad Warsi]] and [[Boman Irani]],<ref name=ibn>{{cite web|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/jolly-llb-review-the-films-not-a-bad-way-to-spend-the-evening/379058-47-84.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317021018/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/jolly-llb-review-the-films-not-a-bad-way-to-spend-the-evening/379058-47-84.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 March 2013 |title='Jolly LLB' review: The film's not a bad way to spend the evening |publisher=Ibnlive.in.com |access-date=25 April 2013}}</ref> the [[Telugu cinema|Tollywood]] movie ''[[Sapthagiri LLB]]'' (2017) starring [[Saptagiri (actor)|Saptagiri]] and [[P. Sai Kumar|Sai Kumar]],  and the [[Kollywood]] movie ''[[Manithan (2016 film)|Manithan]]''.==References=={{reflist}}[[Category:1999 crimes in India|Hit-and-run case]][[Category:Crime in Delhi]][[Category:Car crime]]