New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has reduced the for Sanjeev Nanda, main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case, to two years because it feels this is a case of rash and negligent driving, that is, an accident.
A trial court had convicted and sentenced Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of former Naval Chief S M Nanda, to five years imprisonment for running down and killing six people in 1999. He has already served around 16 months in jail.
This case has seen a lot of attention because Sanjeev Nanda is from a rich and powerful family and the victims were poor.
As the news reached the Nanda family, Sanjeev's mother broke down, thanking God. His father was also happy.
Sanjeev Nanda is currently lodged in Tihar jail.
The court, however, did not decrease the sentence of other accused Bhola Nath and Rajeev Gupta. Their sentence of six months for tampering of evidence remains intact.
The court, in its 274-page judgement, ordered criminal prosecution of controversial eyewitness Sunil Kulkarni for misleading the court by giving false testimony.
Nanda's mother Renu broke down when the judge declared that his jail term has been reduced to two years.
The legal proceeding in this high-profile case saw many twists and turns with not only court hearings but also out-of-court developments in the case grabbing the headlines for different reasons.
The case saw key witnesses turning hostile and Nanda's counsel R K Anand and former Special Public Prosecutor I U Khan being found guilty of obstruction of justice, following a TV sting that showed Kulkarni with them.
Nanda had crushed six persons to death while driving the BMW car in an inebriated condition in the wee hours of January 10, 1999 at Lodhi Colony in South Delhi.
(With PTI inputs)