Blood-alcohol report of Sumer Merchant can be tested only at trial: Court

Mumbai: The sessions court has rejected the bail plea of Sumer Merchant, arrested for running over a woman at Worli Sea face on March 18, primarily because of the alcohol content found in his blood. The court rejected his apprehension about the authenticity of his blood-alcohol tests and said it cannot be questioned at the preliminary stage of bail and can be tested only during the trial.

The sessions court had last week rejected the bail plea of Merchant, 23. A copy of the order became available on Monday.

Merchant’s lawyer while seeking bail had questioned his blood report which said Merchant was under the influence of alcohol. The lawyer had claimed that the breath analysis done by the police on the spot did not reveal that he had consumed alcohol while driving the car. Besides, the defence had also argued that the urine report was also negative for alcohol.

The court, however, did not accept the argument and said, “I do not want to accept this submission as the blood sample report is on record. Its doubtfulness will be tested during the trial and not at this stage.”

“It cannot be ignored that as per the allegation of the prosecution, the alcohol to the extent of 137 mg per 100 ml was found in the blood of the applicant/accused which is more than the permissible limit under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act,” the court further observed. Under section 185 of the MV Act, a driver is said to be driving under the influence of alcohol, if his blood-alcohol content is found over 30 mg per 100 ml of blood.

The court also considered the apprehension of the prosecution that this could also be a case of murder. “The deceased was working on the dominant post in one international company and the investigation officer wants to investigate the matter from the angle of intention on part of the applicant/accused to eliminate her,” reads the order.

Merchant’s speeding car had hit 58-year-old jogger Rajalakshmi Vijay Ramakrishnan on March 18 at Worli Sea Face. The impact was so severe that Rajalakshmi was flung several feet away and was killed on the spot. The accused was on his way to drop his friends at Shivaji Park after partying with them the whole night.