Will Janhavi Gadkar’s crime turn into another Salman Khan case?
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: What they thought would be the happiest day in their life turned out to be the most tragic for a family when two people died in a late-night car accident in Mumbai, hit by a vehicle driven by a woman who was very drunk.
Janhavi Gadkar, a high court advocate and VP of the legal advisory team representing Reliance Industries Limited, celebrated after her company bagged a much-needed project, but her excessive drinking at the party ultimately led to the deaths of businessman Salim Sabuwala and the driver of the taxi that he hired to celebrate the success of his son in the SSC examination.
According to the statement provided by Gadkar to the police, she was drunk after a party and was so high on alcohol that she was unable to understand the road and drove through the wrong side of the Eastern Freeway, causing her Audi to ram into the taxi.
The alcohol test conducted on the blood sample of Gadkar has revealed that he had 200mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, which is six times more than the permissible limit of 30mg in 100ml.
The high profile advocate was driving her posh Audi at a speed of more than 120Km/h when it collided with the taxi. The safety features of her AUDI must have saved Gadkar’s life, but the police have slapped her with charges ranging from rash and negligent driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
According to a senior police officer “when she realised that she was going the wrong way, she took a U-turn in the same lane and started driving towards oncoming traffic.” He also added that “She was too drunk to realise she was driving on the wrong side.”
Nilofar, the daughter of 57-year-old taxi driver Mohammed Sayyed who died in the fatal accident was quoted by The Hindustan Times, saying, “We call something an accident when it is done by mistake, but [Gadkar] did not do this [drink and drive] by mistake. She is a lawyer and was well aware of the consequences of her actions, so how can it be an accident? It is murder.”
She added “What an ignorant person [Gadkar] is. She is well-educated and knows what can happen if she drinks and drives. She knows what will happen if she drives on the wrong side of the road. And on top of everything, she thought she could just throw money at the problem and make it disappear. This is absolutely ridiculous.”
“She should be given a severe sentence. If she does not face the consequences of her actions, she will remain as ignorant as she was before the incident,” says Nilofar who has been living in England for the past 8 years.
The case registered against Gadkar has a striking similarity to the one charged against Salman Khan. Now we have to wait and watch whether the high-profile contacts of Gadkar would come for her rescue like in the case of Salman Khan who is currently out on bail after conviction.