Alistair Pereira surrenders in hit-and-run case, sent back home

Mumbai: Alistair Pereira, convicted for mowing down seven persons in a hit-and-run case over five years back, today surrendered before a sessions court here but was sent back home as certified copy of the Supreme Court order cancelling his bail last week was not available. Twenty-seven-year-old Pereira gave himself up before the Sewri sessions court, which said it is yet to receive the certified copy of SC order of 12 January that upheld the three-year jail term awarded to him by the Bombay High Court for killing seven people sleeping on a pavement on 12 November 2006. [caption id=“attachment_183982” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The businessman surrendered today but was sent back home as certified copy of the Supreme Court order cancelling his bail last week was not available. Screen grab from CNNIbn”] [/caption] “Accordingly, he was sent home,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pratap Dighavkar. The Mumbai-based businessman went to the Khar police station in the morning before arriving at the Sewri Court along with police. As a certified copy of the apex court order was not available either with the police or the court, he was asked to go back. Pereira will now have to come to the court after the certified copy of the Supreme Court is available here, police said. While cancelling Pereira’s bail, the Supreme Court had upheld the High Court order sending him to jail for three years, observing that the punishment for the “despicable aggravated offence” was “too meagre”. The Supreme Court concurred with the High Court’s verdict holding Pereira guilty for the offence and said the sentence could not be enhanced as the Maharashtra government had not filed an appeal challenging the jail term. The Supreme Court had on 12 January directed Pereira to surrender “forthwith” for undergoing the remaining sentence as awarded by the High Court in 2007. The High Court had enhanced the six month imprisonment awarded by a trial court to three years and also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him. PTI