Mumbai: After 58 days in jail, Janhavi Gadkar, a lawyer by profession was granted bail by a sessions court. She was jailed for her alleged involvement in a drunken driving incident that claimed two lives. Judge Sanjay V Patil passed the order on the application today after extensive arguments by both sides.
The defense argued that her qualifications, profession and her lifestyle which were highlighted by the prosecution to deny her bail are inappropriate considerations for denying her bail. Her counsel Amit Desai, told the court “At every stage while opposing bail, the prosecution in its reply has mentioned that she is a qualified lawyer. Is that a ground to deny her bail? One has to also appreciate that she comes from a humble background and made something of herself”.
The advocate took strong objection to the prosecution submission that Gadkar “lived alone” following her separation from her husband. “What is the prosecution trying to imply by stating this repeatedly? Can this be ground for refusing bail,” Desai argued. He further stated that the prosecution must exercise some caution in the submissions. “Continuing her custody after 57 days in jail and completion of investigation will amount to punishment before trial being imposed. There is no difficulty in releasing her on bail with appropriate conditions,” Desai said.
Desai also referred to a Mumbai Traffic hoarding against drunken driving which shows an advocate and goes with the line, Drunken Drivers: no one is above the law, not even the law. Showing the picture to the court he said, “This hoarding castigates the entire legal profession by saying drunk drivers and is unjustified,” he said. Alluding to Gadkar, he said that he did not want the prosecution to now say that that women drivers who live alone should not be allowed to drive.
Public Prosecutor Iqbal Solkar, on the other hand, while opposing the bail plea said, “She can abscond as her husband is residing in Hyderabad. A wrong signal will go to society considering she has killed two people and that four others were discharged from hospital after a long time”. He also cited her blood report.
