January 10, 1999 in the wee hours of Lodhi Colony area in Delhi, a speeding BMW mows down 6 people. All 6 including three police men are killed in the accident. More than 10 years have passed and accused has finally got the punishment for his heinous crime. Imprisonment for 2 years!! The accused is the son of known arms dealer Suresh Nanda, Sanjeev Nanda. In a “Historic Judgment”, Justice Kailash Gambhir of Delhi High Court set aside the trial court conviction of 5 years and convicted him under the milder Section 304 A (causing death by rash and negligent act) IPC. Strangely, the court reduced Nanda’s term even after taking a stern view of the events following the accident, like Nanda’s fleeing from the spot and attempts to win over witnesses during the trial.
Well readers, this is the justice in India!!
The Constitution and law must be same for one and all. This is what I have read in the books. But the reality is something else. The law takes totally different course if you have money power. Take the instance of Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Alistair Pereira and Sanjeev Nanda. If you look into the history, you will see numerous instances where the justice has taken a beating for rich. I was reading a journal where it was written that in India, more than 99% of the prisoners belong to poor background. This is precisely that poor people cannot afford the renowned counsels to represent them. They are made scapegoat for big crimes to shield the main faces behind the crime. Their lives don’t carry great importance.
At this point of time, I can recall couple of lines of a song from movie Lawaris:
Aapka yeh pasina khoon se bhi keemti
Aur apne khoon ki keemat yahan kuch bhi nahi!
Apna to khoon paani
Jeena Marna Bemaani!!
This is the mockery of justice. For the Nanda’s family the justice has been done but what about the families who lost their loved ones? Justice Kailash Gambhir said that though the incident was “gruesome,” it could not be held that it occurred within the knowledge of Nanda. But where was his knowledge when he was drunk and driving. He was not wrong when he fled from the scene. He did no wrong when he tried to buy the witnesses.
Right?
But the judge has delivered the verdict and “justice has been done”. So lets’ forget the suffering of the families of deceased. Let us forget those who were trampled under the wheels. That was their fate. They were guilty of sleeping on pavement. No matter pavement is meant for pedestrian, a rich brat’s car can run anywhere. This verdict will condone Drink and Drive.
Long Live Money Power! Long Live Democracy!
Jai Hind: Proud to be an Indian 
Sanjeev Nanda with a dream to turn businesses into empires, embarked into the world of entrepreneurship; and as professionals were put together to manage the show, Nanda stepped in to play the role of ‘managing the managers’ while focusing equally on business development. A Businessman with a vision, Nanda has been successful in every venture he has stepped into.
“Challenges are a process of learning. The idea is not to bow down and give up, but take them as a cue to work harder to achieve the goals one has set for himself. I try to ensure that I do not get distracted, but stay committed to my dream of making my businesses the best in the country” said Sanjeev Nanda once philosophically about his life. Life has not been a cakewalk for Sanjeev Nanda but with the kind of dynamism he has, he is sure to make it big.
Peep into the lives of successful and famous and one will find phases of darkness or suffering. These phases often leave their mark in the form of invaluable learning’s, as painful times help in surfacing the best of person’s values and virtues.
Owing to the hue and cry created by Media, Sanjeev’s name on the internet invariably pops up the infamous BMW hit-and-run case. What very few are able to see is that he has suffered enough for his unintentional mistake, that he compensated the victims to their satisfaction and faced the trial in the hope of justice. It was only in 2009, 10 years after the unfortunate incident, that Justice Kailash Gambhir reduced Nanda’s sentence after terming it a case of negligence rather than culpable homicide. Whoever has met Sanjeev, believes that he has been punished more than enough.
Sanjeev Nanda, who graduated from The Wharton School, one of the finest business schools in the US, has the calibre and vigour to put the past as past and look ahead to opportunities and blessings that life has to offer. Media hue and cry will always be there, but for the people who know Sanjeev Nanda well and have worked with him, he will always be an exemplary businessman, a great friend & family man and above all a good human being.
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