More than four years after a fatal road accident on the Khed highway claimed the life of a motorist, the Maharashtra Police have corrected their earlier mistake by filing a chargesheet against the accused truck driver, and not the victim.
The accident occurred on the night of September 12, 2020, when 38-year-old Sachin Ghatage, riding an Activa scooter near Mauje Kalambani Budruk Village on the Mumbai–Goa National Highway, collided with a 10-wheeler container truck. The truck was reversing on the wrong side of the road without parking lights or indicators, according to CCTV footage.
Sachin’s mother, Asha Ghatage, filed a petition in Bombay High Court challenging the initial investigation that blamed her son for the crash. The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan ordered a reinvestigation, noting discrepancies in the original police report.
Advocates Reshma Mutha and Sandip Agre, representing Asha Ghatage, argued that Sachin was wrongly accused in the FIR.
“It can be clearly seen that the 10-wheeler container truck was taking reverse on the wrong side of the track/lane and the truck’s parking lights, or indicator not on. Sachin was going slowly in the correct lane when the accident occurred,” Mutha said.
The police had initially stated that Sachin was speeding and driving dangerously, but evidence showed he was in the correct lane and the truck’s negligence caused the crash.
The FIR had named Sachin as the accused, and the Khed police filed a closure report, citing his death. However, under court orders, a reinvestigation was conducted. Despite this, the police initially filed a flawed chargesheet implicating both the truck driver and Sachin, drawing criticism from the court.
On November 27, the high court rebuked the Khed Police and gave them two weeks to rectify the chargesheet. The revised chargesheet, filed shortly after, named only the truck driver, Rajan Chauhan, as the accused, formally clearing all allegations against Sachin.
The high court acknowledged the updated chargesheet and disposed of Asha Ghatage’s petition, noting that justice had been served after persistent legal efforts.
