Worli BMW hit-and-run case: Mihir Shah moves HC, seeks immediate release

MUMBAI: Mihir Shah, the son of a former Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) functionary from Palghar and the main accused in the Worli hit-and-run case, has moved Bombay high court claiming he has been illegally detained and has sought immediate release.

A division bench of justice Bharati Dangre and justice Manjusha Deshpande is likely to take up the plea for hearing on Wednesday. In his habeas corpus petition filed on August 12, Shah claimed that his detention was illegal and that he must be released immediately.

Shah, the son of a former Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) functionary from Palghar, was arrested by the Worli police on July 9, two days after he allegedly crashed his BMW car into a two-wheeler in the Worli Sea Face area, killing Kaveri Nakhwa 45, after dragging her for around two-and-half km and leaving her husband Pradeep, who was driving the scooter, injured.

The Worli police have booked them under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 281 (rash or negligent driving so as to endanger human life), 125(b) (endangering life or personal safety of others), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), 324(4) (destruction of property with the intent to cause wrongful loss to the public or any person) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, (BNS) and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.

Shah, his father and former Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah, as well as their driver Rajrishi Bidawat, were arrested in the case. While Rajesh Shah was granted bail, Mihir Shah and Bidawat are presently in judicial custody.