Bombay High Court grants bail to BEST driver in 2024 Kurla crash that killed 9

More, who was driving an electric bus near Kurla railway station on December 9, 2024, argued before the high court that while the contract of employment had a provision of a minimum seven-day training on an electric bus, he was given only three days of training, which was merely through PowerPoint presentations.

Advocates Advait U Shukla, Neetu Singh, and Amandeep Singh Sra further argued that More was not under the influence of alcohol or any drugs and the same was established in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report, and the only cause of the incident was a lack of training in driving electric buses.

It was further argued that the offence against More, which can be levelled in the case, would be death by negligent and rash act as per Section 106 of the BNS. The lawyers said the accused had already undergone incarceration of nearly 15 months since his arrest, and the trial was unlikely to conclude in the near future, as the prosecution intended to examine 96 witnesses.

The prosecution lawyer, however, opposed the bail plea, arguing that the incident led to the death of nine people and injuries to nearly 37 others, and the accused, who indulged in a serious and heinous crime, had knowledge of his act, which amounted to culpable homicide.

The high court judge, prima facie, accepted the bail applicant’s arguments that the maximum offence attracted in the case was death by negligence and the maximum sentence for which was five years of imprisonment.

The judge also said that mere three-day training was not enough for an employer to hand over the duty of regularly driving an electric bus to the applicant. The bench further observed that not a single witness has been examined by the trial court to date, despite charges having been framed in October last year, and therefore, the accused deserved release on bail.