Mumbai, Apr 13 (PTI) A court in Mumbai refused bail to the BEST bus driver, involved in a road accident that claimed four lives in suburban Bhandup in December 2025, saying the accused knew he had not been trained in operating the electric vehicle, but he “casually seated in the driver’s seat”.
He was unaware of the “ABC of the driving technique of the bus” and his lack of knowledge about driving an EV “increases the magnitude” of the crime, the court noted, adding that it was not a “casual accident” which could have been avoided had the accused ‘plainly” refused to drive the vehicle.
The Olectra Greentech-made nine-metre-long electric bus from the fleet of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking was driven by Santosh Sawant (52) when it crashed into pedestrians near Bhandup (West) railway station on December 29, 2025, night, killing four people and injuring 12 others.
The defence arguments centred around the fact that Sawant’s name was missing from the list of drivers trained to operate the new electric vehicles (EVs). They argued that a lack of proper training reduced his legal culpability.
However, additional sessions judge Y P Manathkar, in an order passed on April 10, rejected this contention.
The judge highlighted that Sawant knew that he had not been trained by the department and was unaware of the “ABC of the driving technique of the bus”.
“He casually seated in the driver’s seat, allowed the bus to become uncontrolled and let the consequences happen, running over the bus upon hundreds of people,” the court stated.
The judge said that, “such lethargy of the employee in protesting against the employer for non- imparting training needs to be viewed with proper sensitivity”.
The court underlined that the size of the vehicle, which the accused had little knowledge of how to drive, increased the magnitude/severity of the crime.” The court pointed out that the part of the training to drive the EV bus was skipped, “either because of fault on the part of the applicant or the BEST administration”.
“The implications of this were horrible. It is always found that whenever such a tragedy happens, all the concerned persons pass the blame to one another, to save their own skin,” the court asserted.
Sawant, arrested under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Motor Vehicles Act for negligent driving, was also denied bail in January.
He made a fresh plea, citing the filing of a charge sheet as a change in circumstances.
Police, represented by additional public prosecutor Iqbal Solkar, argued that the tragedy was the result of “rash driving of the BEST bus” by the accused.
The prosecution opposed the bail, strongly attributing knowledge as well as intention to cause death to the applicant.
Stating that it was aware that a pre-trial detention is a violation of human rights of an accused and a charge-sheet has been filed, the court said it was not a casual accident.” The court concluded that the facts of the case differed from the orders cited by defence, and rejected Sawant’s plea. PTI AVI NSK
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