Yesterday, On 23rd October, Congress MP’s son, Ganesh Handore, who arrested earlier in October by Mumbai’s Govandi police for a hit-and-run incident in Chembur, has been released by the Bombay High Court. The incident had left a person critically injured. Handore was taken into custody following the investigation into the accident. His release comes after a legal review of the case.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court issued an interim order on Wednesday, directing the immediate release of Ganesh Handore, son of Congress Rajya Sabha member Chandrakant Handore, who was arrested in a hit-and-run incident that resulted in injuries to an individual.
The court criticized the police for applying the charge of attempt to commit culpable homicide, labelling it a “classic case” of legal overreach.
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Ganesh Handore apprehended in early October by the Govandi police in Mumbai concerning the hit-and-run case that occurred in Chembur, where a person sustained serious injuries.
A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan observed that Ganesh Handore initially charged only with rash and negligent driving, but later faced the more serious non-bailable charge of attempting to commit culpable homicide.
The court instructed the police to submit an affidavit in response to Ganesh Handore’s petition, which argued that his arrest was unlawful. While scheduling a hearing for November, the court issued an interim order for Handore’s release in the hit-and-run case.
Handore, currently under judicial custody, had filed the petition through advocates Rajiv Chavan and Ashwin Thool, seeking to nullify his remand order and claiming his arrest was illegal. Advocate Chavan argued that the initial charges against Handore were bailable, but a non-bailable offense under Section 110 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) attempt to commit culpable homicide — was added later. He also highlighted Handore’s poor health.
After reviewing the case, the court expressed doubt about the applicability of BNS Section 110.
The court remarked,
“This is clearly a case of rash and negligent driving. He was not drunk while driving. If this section is applied here, then it would need to be applied in all accident cases. If you start arresting people like this, then what will happen? This is a classic case of misuse,”
The accident took place in the early hours of October 5, when Ganesh Handore was allegedly driving from Chembur (West) to the eastern part of the central suburb.
According to the Govandi police, as Handore approached Acharya College on Narayan Gajanan Acharya Marg, his vehicle collided with a motorcycle rider, Gopal Arote, a local resident.
Instead of helping the seriously injured Arote, Handore fled the scene, leaving the victim bloodied and helpless on the road, as reported by the police.
Arote was later admitted to the ICU of a hospital. Police managed to locate Handore after reviewing CCTV footage from the area and subsequently arrested him.
However, upon arriving at the Govandi police station, Handore reportedly felt dizzy and was taken to state-run JJ Hospital in central Mumbai after doctors observed a spike in his blood pressure.
He later applied for bail in a sessions court, asserting that he wrongfully implicated in the incident.
However, his bail request was denied by the court. Handore’s attorney, Chavan, stated in a recent hearing before the High Court that this incident was merely a case of rash and negligent driving, not drunken driving.