Cyrus Mistry car accident: Chargesheet filed against Dr Pandole for ‘negligence’; likely to be summoned

At 3.15 pm on September 4 last year, four people were travelling in a car along Charoti Bridge over Surya River towards Mumbai from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. Mistry and Jahangir Binshah Pandole, who were seated in the rear seats, died in the accident, while Darius Pandole and his wife Dr Anahita seated in the front seats suffered severe injuries. Darius had mentioned in his statement that a light vehicle was moving ahead of their car when the incident took place. “Near a point where a three-lane road was merging into two… Dr Anahita also tried to do the same but could not as a heavy vehicle was moving on the right side of her vehicle. Thus, she ended up ramming the car into the bridge’s boundary wall,” said the officer.

Dr Anahita has been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 279 (rash driving), 304A (death due to negligence), 336 (endangering lives), 337 (causing hurt) and 338 (grievous hurt); Motor Vehicles Act sections 112 (limits of speed), 183 (driving at excessive speed) and 184 (dangerous driving); and sections 5 (duties of drivers/riders), 6 (lane traffic) and 14 (overtaking) of the Motor Vehicle Driving Regulation, said police.

Mercedes-Benz, which has submitted a technical analysis report based on Event Data Recorder (EDR) taken from the damaged vehicle, said Dr Anahita could not apply brakes in the speeding vehicle in time.