The Bombay High Court has denied a request from Mihir Shah, the accused in the BMW hit-and-run case in Worli, Mumbai, to be released immediately. Shah, along with his driver, Rajrishi Bindawat, sought to have their arrests deemed "illegal."

The bench, comprising Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande, rejected their plea, affirming the legality of their detention.

Mihir Shah, the son of former Shiv Sena politician Rajesh Shah, was arrested on July 9, two days after allegedly crashing his BMW into a motorcycle in Worli. The collision killed Kaveri Nakhwa and left her husband, Pradeep, injured. Tragically, Nakhwa’s body was drag along with the car for over 1.5 kilometers before the driver stopped.

While Bindawat, the driver, was apprehended soon after the incident, Shah fled the scene and was later arrested in Virar, located about 65 kilometers from Mumbai, following public pressure.

Shah was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, according to police reports. Along with Shah and Bindawat, at least 10 other individuals, including Shah’s mother and two sisters, were arrested in connection with the case.

In their habeas corpus petitions filed in August, Shah and Bindawat argued that their detention was illegal due to the police’s failure to inform them of the grounds for their arrest, as required under Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

This section mandates that police must inform an arrested individual of the offense or grounds for their arrest.

However, the court questioned whether this procedure was necessary, considering the accused were caught "red-handed." The public prosecutor also highlighted that both Shah and Bindawat were fully aware of the charges against them.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose faction of Shiv Sena recently won the Maharashtra Assembly elections, voiced concern over the increasing number of hit-and-run incidents in the state. He condemned the misuse of power by influential individuals and assured that his government would not tolerate such abuses of authority.