SC directs Alistair Pereira to serve 3 years, cancels bail

Mumbai: The Supreme Court has found Alistair Anthony Pereira, a Mumbai resident, guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and has upheld the three-year rigorous imprisonment sentence handed down to him by the Bombay High Court on 6 September 2007. The apex court also cancelled Pereira’s bail and directed him to undergo the three-year jail term awarded by the Bombay High Court. Pereira (then 21), a resident of upmarket suburb Bandra, had mowed down seven people to death on the night of 12 November 2006 in a hit-and-run accident on Carter Road in Bandra. After the incident, a trial court in April 2007, said there was not enough evidence to prove that Pereira had been under the influence of alcohol and that the police investigation was careless. Citing insufficient evidence, the trial court had handed the city youth a six-month imprisonment sentence. [caption id=“attachment_179708” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A screen grab of Alistair Pereira. CNN-IBN”]  [/caption] However, on 3 July 2007, the State filed an appeal in the High Court for an enhancement of the punishment meted out to Pereira. The Maharashtra government represented by Advocate General Ravi Kadam had contended that Pereira had drunk beyond the legal limit, and that the sessions judge was wrong in holding that there was no evidence to prove his “drunkenness”. Advocate General Ravi Kadam was quoted in Rediff.com as saying, “Chemical analysis of his blood sample, which was not challenged by the defence, showed that alcohol quantity in Alistair’s blood was twice the permitted limit.” Following this petition and considering alcohol tests, overspeeding and his trying to escape, the HC bench increased Pereira’s punishment, to a three-year rigorous imprisonment on 6 September 2007 saying he did not deserve sympathy. The bench comprising of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Ranjana Desai had said, “The accused does not deserve any uncalled [for] sympathy on the question of quantum of sentence.” The Bench also imposed a fine of Rs.5 lakh on Pereira. Expectedly, Pereira moved an appeal against this sentence and opposed his conviction in the Supreme Court. An earlier bench of the SC, comprising of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice GS Gyan Sudha Mishra differed on the quantum of the sentence to be handed down to Pereira. The court was under the impression that he had spent one year in jail and Justice Katju had said that the time Alistair spent in jail could be considered as his sentence. However, Justice Mishra found that he spent only a month in jail, which she felt was inadequate. On 26 February 2011, a new bench of the SC was appointed to hear the case. The bench today upheld the Bombay High Court’s three-year sentence and cancelled his bail. Pereira who was granted bail by the High Court, has been out almost throughout the trial period — since 1 December 2006.