In a tragic incident, a speeding Mercedes SUV killed three persons on the Banastarim bridge, near Ponda last week. Rubbing salt to the injury, Goa police arrested 48-year-old real estate developer Paresh Sawardekar for allegedly causing the accident at 4 am, eight hours after the tragedy.
According to the police, the speeding car first collided with two bikes before changing direction and crashing into three other cars coming from the opposite direction, resulting in injuries to several individuals in the second collision.
However, there is a twist in the tale. An eyewitness, Digvijay Velingkar, in his statement has said that the SUV was being driven by a woman. Who apparently was Paresh’s wife Meghana. So, who actually the police arrested and why, still remains a mystery.
Also, there was absolutely no remorse in the eyes of the couple. The eyewitnesses have narrated horrific stories related to the accident. The couple apparently literally dismissed the whole incident by allegedly saying that “accidents happen and when accidents happen some people survive and some people die”.
There is a larger issue here. One is, we need to figure out whether this case is being already botched up or not. There are allegations by the people that a “game” has already been played, where we do not know whether the person who was behind the wheel is the one who’s been arrested.
Secondly, there is a lot of doubt being expressed and we need to check whether enough checks have been made to see if a fool-proof investigation has been initiated. For instance, have the investigators checked the CCTV footage right from the time when the couple left the party they were in, to see who was actually driving?
Thirdly, have other things been checked, for instance the space between the wheel and the seat, which would indicate whether a tall person or a short person was driving. The taller person was obviously the man and the man and the woman were short in stature.
It is also important to understand why these kinds of incidents of drunken driving keep on happening with absolute impunity and with complete disdain? There are laws, there are regulations, voluntary organisations to look at road safety in its various aspects.
But all of them are completely either ignored or non-functional. There is the basic problem why this is happening. Because people drink and drive as there is absolutely no fear. Will you be able to do this in Bangalore, Mumbai or Chennai?
To begin with, regarding this case, where are the loopholes why there is apprehension that the case is being botched up?
Advocate Raviraj Chodankar, High Court lawyer, who has taken up the cudgels to get justice for the accident victims, said, “First of all the eyewitness’ (Digvijay Velingkar) statement is not at all being looked into in this matter. His statement is very crucial because he too would have been a victim in this matter had a pole not been there acting as a shield.”
“We have heard from everyone that if that pole had not been there, he would have been another victim. He has seen that accident so closely. But his version is not being accepted. He had seen the entire accident unfolding in front of him. I presume that he must be the first person who even rescued the occupants of the car,” Adv Chodankar said.
“He gave a statement immediately on the spot within 15 to 20 minutes of the accident, without knowing the identity of the car passengers and their background, that a lady was driving the ill-fated car. But that statement has not been taken by the investigators,” he said.
“In fact, Velingkar was coming from the opposite side and could have surely seen very clearly who was driving the car. But his statement has not been accepted. I was at the police station. The DySP is on record telling the public that how could Velingkar see the lady driving the car but not the woman who fell under the bridge? This means he had not seen the accident. This is wrong. He was the first person to rescue that lady,” Adv Chodankar said.
“I have reliable information that the moment the accident occurred, there was a commotion, following which Paresh Sawardekar fled from the spot and left his wife and children behind. But he said that he was not driving,” he said.
“Now the second theory which is coming out is that the lady went to the driver’s seat because she wanted to rescue her husband. Let me tell you that the moment this car hit that first bike, both the front airbags exploded. Once that happens, there is no chance to even move, leave alone shifting from one seat to another,” Adv Chodankar said.
“The only way one can come out is by opening the window. The third thing is the space between the seat and the steering was very less. Which means a short person was driving the car. Mr Sawardekar is a tall man and hence he surely would have needed much more leg space. This important element has not been considered here, which is not right,” he said.
The senior lawyer said that a lady came on record saying that her husband, who has already acted as a panch witness in six to seven cases.
“He has been purposely planted just to save the culprits. We have had such cases in cases heard in the Supreme Court and High Court. We remember this lady who gave the statement,” he said.
Now the issue here is, what can still be done, what should the police do?
Adv Shashank Narvekar, Councillor and lawyer, said that there are several sections of the law, which are applicable here like culpable homicide, rash and negligent driving.
“In such cases of negligent driving causing deaths, the important element is the evidence. Now a concerted effort is being made to hide that evidence. The Home Department should remove those officers who are involved doing this. This is a repeated occurrence in all high profile crimes, where all such officers who are under investigation in other cases, who don’t have a clean record themselves, are being put in charge of investigating such cases,” Adv Narvekar alleged.
He said that all such officers who are giving these theories prior to completing their investigation have a duty to carry out. The investigation findings should not come out in the public and the concerned Investigation Officer should refrain from revealing in public their theories and what they think about their case.
“There are certain things which have not been taken into account. First of all, have a free and fair investigation. Without free and fair investigation none of these cases come to its logical conclusion. The aspect of whether law in general is acting as a deterrent is the main question here. Before a person sits in a car in an inebriated state, starts driving in a rash and negligent way, there should be something that comes to his mind which will deter him from starting the vehicle itself,” he said.
He added that although there are checks and balances in place, our legal system has failed to act as a deterrent for those who start driving the car in an inebriated state. So, if the investigation and the evidence gathered on the basis initial investigation is not done properly, then how can one expect a proper result to come out?
“My heart goes out to the families of people who have lost their lives. But the question is why is it that when there are higher profile people involved in such incidents, the investigation is always botched up? A proper investigating officer needs to be appointed, who can start constructing the entire incident from scratch again. It is not too late even now to do it,” Adv Narvekar said.
The fact that the alcohol test was not conducted upon the lady (Meghna Sawardekar), how will that impact the investigation?
“The question rash and negligent driving and to prove whether the person was rash and negligent, does not require the aspect of being drunk only. That is one aspect of it, which attracts Section 143 (a) and (b). But to secure conviction in such cases, it has to be proven beyond reasonable doubt that that person who was driving the vehicle, whether in an inebriated state or not, was driving in a rash and negligent manner right. So for that, the question doesn’t come whether the person is drunk or not,” he said.
Now of course, after two or three days of the incident, that person will not fall within the purview of drunken driving as the level of alcohol won’t be in the required quantity. But the investigating officers giving statements on the identity of the driver and discrediting the eyewitness is certainly unacceptable, especially when the police started the investigation almost 24 hours later.
“Till the accused personally came to the police to surrender and claiming that he was driving the car, what investigation was carried out from 8 pm on that unfortunate night till the person entered the police station? It was the people who were affected by the tragedy actually started pushing for free and fair investigation. The police have already failed in its job to prove beyond reasonable doubt that that person who was driving in a rash and negligent manner,” Adv Narvekar said.
From the very beginning, the investigation has not been done properly. They are trying to shield an influential person. Till our system supports this kind of shielding by the officers who are supposed to protect the common people, this system will never give justice to the affected parties, he added.
There are so many lives which are lost in Goa’s roads like this and nobody seems to talk about the issue of compensation. Should the onus on compensating the victim be with the accused? What is the justice for the victims?
Responding to the question, Roland Martins, Coordinator, GOACAN said, “So to put it in context, I will just give one example. I don’t know if you realised, in the last eight months, there have been series of accidents on the Dona Paula road, where electric poles have been knocked off. Each pole costs at least Rs 1.25 lakh.”
“A case has been filed before the Consumer Conciliation Committee, where a consumer has claimed that you are registering an FIR against the Electricity Department to basically get a new pole released from the store, erect it and give the connection. Not a single paisa has been recovered,” he said.
“So, this case has been filed under deficiency of service, under Consumer Protection Act. Interestingly, the notice went to the SP Traffic and Chief Engineer, Electricity Department. The Chief Engineer and other department officials there admitted. Our question was simple that the district recovery officer has to come and recover the money, whether you are from Delhi or whatever,” Martins said.
“Now, when we speak about human rights, the central to this whole thing is, what is the role of the Traffic Police? What it’s supposed to do? How many cases it has booked? There’s no mention of these in the website of Goa Police. There is only paragraph on the traffic police in the website,” he said.
“The problem here is that, many people believe the traffic police probes cases of road accidents. It’s not so. Its task is to prevent accidents. For this, even conducting the alcohol meter test is their responsibility. But when it comes to an accident, the investigation is done by the local Investigating Officer (IO) of that particular police station,” he said.
“It’s terrible what has happened. But I think, on the other side, the rainbow is that, this has happened at Banastarim and therefore it has taken the heartland of Goa into this debate. The point is, many people think that those who drink in Panjim, crash in Panjim. It’s a very interesting case, where you drink in Ponda and you crash in Banastarim, but you live in Panjim,” he said.
“So I think, this had turned this whole thing around. Today I can see the kind of movement that’s building up at the panchayat level. Sarpanch is speaking, panchayat member is speaking. I think it’s a very important turning point where people will start to see two things. One is of course, people know that road accidents are taking place,” he said.
“But it is important to know how the families of victims have been treated. Not a single official has gone to the house of the deceased to console the family. A family lost its two senior members together in one night. It’s heartbreaking to see. It shows the cracks in our system,” he said.
“World tourism day is going to be celebrated on 27 September. There’s this feeling the new Gurgaon the new Noida is unfolding in Goa, where the rich and famous will use these high-end SUVs and kill us. The fact that four challans were issued to the vehicle owner and not a single one paid exposes the whole system. I therefore think, the challenge before the civil society is, how we prevent accidents,” Martins said.
He said that drinking and driving in a high speed is a dangerous cocktail which has led to two new issues. One is hit and run and therefore the question is what kind of investigation team has to be there? Can this be left to a local police station anymore?
“I think there has to be a specialised unit, exclusively to deal with hit and run and drunken driving. There’s no question about it and this incident I think throws that question to the Home Department. Are we going to create a special unit exclusively to deal with it? Otherwise, we have no future because Goa is a tourism destination. We are going to see 20 30 more such cases in
the coming season,” the Coordinator of
GOACAN said.
Sharing his thoughts on the issues surrounding the Banastarim road accident, Founder of Goa Road Safety Forum (GRSF), Dilip Naik said, “Velingkar in his eyewitness account, said that that the lady (Meghana Sawardekar) was not in a position to even stand properly. And the police are trying to say that to save family she switched sides with her husband.”
“I have over 25 years of experience in road safety, which I want to use to save lives of our people. The government doesn’t involve people like us. This is mockery of road safety in Goa. We have got clear-cut solution for all the problems. They are not ready to discuss it with us,” Naik said.
Speaking about the crucial aspects of road safety that are not being followed in relation to drunken driving and reckless driving, the road safety activist said, “First of all, if I get a driving license with a lot of effort, like in Dubai, I will not just drive carelessly. Getting a driving license should be a big deal for any individual. But licenses are very easily given in Goa,” he said.
“There is Supreme Court order on a writ petition that no driving license would to be given merely based on your vehicle manoeuvring skills. You should know traffic rules. None of these rules are taught in these driving schools, nor are they asked by the RTO Inspector while taking the test of the license applicant,” he said.
There is also a cap on how many driving licenses one inspector can give per day. But this is not followed. It is a business for driving schools and the authorities. In the
bargain, road safety is getting neglected, Naik said.
“From example, the signboards from Farmagudi to Panjim are not in order. As per Indian Road Congress-67:2022, there should not be a cluster of signages, old signboards should be removed and periodic maintenance must be done. But in reality, they are put up like mushrooms. Wrong signages are put at wrong places,” he said.
“The driver doesn’t get the information prior to the signal. Tourists don’t know which side they have to go. Lanes are not marked properly. Drivers don’t know which lane to take. The speed-brakers are not painted. Sighting them at night becomes very difficult and many times, causes accidents. We want to guide the government in all these aspects and we don’t expect anything in return,” the GRSF founder said.
Martins said that in a recent meeting of the State Council, he had proposed to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), that road safety signages should be put up on the 13 km stretch from Verna junction to Varunapuri Gate near the Dabolim airport.
Now the point is, what are we doing about strict implementation of the law? Should there be a drastic alteration of the law or strict implementation of what already exists to see that when the victims pass away in such accidents, their families are completely protected not only by the State, but also from the accused by extracting enough compensation?
“Unfortunately, there is no provision as regards compensation is concerned. There is a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. But it depends upon your income and age. Now
the Central Government has recently increased the no-fault liability from Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh in case of death. But apart from that, there is no system in place,” Adv Chodankar said.
This story actually tells us that in every home, there is a deep sense of permanent loss, irrespective of what happens to these cases. Similarly there are the dead and the living dead, whose lives will probably be as vegetables even if they survive.
The irony however is, once the dust settles down, life might go on for the perpetrators of the crime as usual. But, the life of the innocent victims and their families is finished for forever.
They are the ones who did not drink. They are the ones who probably did not even drive. But they are the ones who got completely crushed and there are so many things that we we can do, but at the core of this lies basic sensitivity and basic humanity, which seems to be lacking everywhere, where the system can do so much and it does not.
Ultimately the fact that not a single elected person has even gone to the homes of the of the victims and given them any kind of a solace, shows the apathy our administration has towards these victims.
There is too much of confusion around the Banastarim bridge accident case, which needs to be settled completely. There is lot of trust deficit between the public and the police. The very fact that the people doubt the police investigation shows the trust gulf that exists between the authorities and the public.
So ultimately, nothing of what has been discussed in this debate will be successful if there is a lack of basic humanity and sensitivity in the society, which is depicted by the whole propensity to ensure that powerful and rich people get undue protection from the law.
This should be stopped immediately because that is where the biggest challenge to this whole system is. Because when the system is for the powerful and not for the powerless, then nothing of what has been discussed, will ever work. That needs to change immediately before everything else. In all these, relations are ultimately made.
It is very important that there is a proper synergy between all the government departments and they work towards safer roads and so that innocent lives are not lost.
Be it good roads, implementation of law safety norms on the road, unbiased police investigation, speedy trial or timely compensation - all these factors are important to prevent accidents and in case of an accident, deliver justice to the victims and their families.