Mumbai, September 6
The Bombay High Court today sentenced Alistair Pereira, son of a Mumbai businessman, to three years rigorous imprisonment for killing seven persons in a hit-and-run case last year.

Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Ranjana Desai found Pereira, then 21, guilty of driving his Toyota Corrolla in a drunken condition in Bandra on November 12 last year.

Taking a tough stance on the conduct of the accused, the judges said Pereira did not “deserve any uncalled for sympathy.”

The case was reopened by the court after the sessions court let off Pereira with just a six-month jail term and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

The court had increased the six-month jail sentence given to him by the trial court after it suo motu went into the case following a public outcry that he was let off lightly. The state government had also appealed against the six-month sentence.

It asked him to surrender to the police after adjourning the hearing on his bail application until tomorrow.

The court refused to accept his defence that the car engine failed and he could not control it as it swerved to the left, crushing the labourers on the pavement.

“He drove in a reckless manner being aware of his obligation towards the safety of persons sleeping on the footpath,” the Bench said, observing that the menace of rash and drunken driving needed to be checked.

The high court, however, upheld the fine of Rs 5 lakh slapped on the businessman by the lower court.

Meanwhile, Pereira was taken into judicial custody when he surrendered and was lodged in the Arthur Road jail.