Nagpur, Jul 2 (PTI) A court here in Maharashtra on Tuesday ordered the release of Ritika alias Ritu Maloo, accused of mowing down two men while driving her Mercedes car under the influence of alcohol in Nagpur in February, terming her arrest in the case unlawful.
Notably, Maloo surrendered before police on Monday, more than four months after the crash, and was subsequently placed under arrest.
After police sought custody of Maloo on Tuesday, the court of the 7th Judicial Magistrate First Class A V Khedkar-Garad declared her arrest unlawful and ordered her immediate release.
The court also instructed that a copy of the order be sent to the police commissioner for appropriate action against the investigating officer responsible for the unlawful arrest.
The incident occurred on February 25 on Nagpur’s Ram Jhula bridge when Maloo drove her Mercedes car recklessly allegedly under the influence of alcohol and crashed into two men on a scooter. Both riders, Mohd Hussain Gulam Mustafa and Mohd Ateef Mohd Zia sustained fatal injuries in the crash.
Maloo was granted bail by another court on February 27. On March 7, police informed the court about adding section 304 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Maloo was released on bail and thereafter new non-bailable and cognisable offences were added. It is also a matter of record that an application for the cancellation of the bail filed by the Investigation Officer (IO) is rejected and the revision as per say of APP and IO is pending, the JMFC court stated on Tuesday.
It means till today there is no permission given to IO to arrest the accused as per section 437 (5) as well as 439 (2) of the CrPC. In view of the above observations given in the case of Pradeep Ram Vs State of Jharkhand, the IO needed to obtain the prior permission of the court (which granted bail to the accused earlier) to arrest her, the court said.
But such permission is not seen to be taken by IO before arresting Maloo. Merely because anticipatory bail applications of the accused were rejected, it will not allow IO to arrest the accused without following the procedure provided by the statute. Hence the said arrest is not seen to be lawful, the judge noted.
The court directed the police to release Maloo immediately and a copy of the order be sent to the police commissioner for appropriate action against the Investigating Officer responsible for the unlawful arrest.
Late last month, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had refused pre-arrest bail to Maloo, saying no prudent person drives under the influence of alcohol and termed it as a serious misconduct. PTI COR NSK
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