Court grants interim bail to Sanjeev Nanda

New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday granted interim bail to Sanjeev Nanda, who is undergoing a five-year prison term for mowing down six people with his BMW in south Delhi in 1999.

Justice Kailash Gambhir granted interim bail of three weeks after Sanjeev Nanda pleaded on the ground that his grandfather, former Indian Navy chief S.M. Nanda, was not well and wanted to see him.

On Tuesday, Gambhir had expressed reservations, saying that the appeal filed by Sanjeev Nanda against his conviction had already reached the final stages.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Sanjeev Nanda, had pleaded for bail saying: 'He (S.M. Nanda) is a man of excellent credentials, who has served the nation throughout his life. He was the man who took a boat and went alone to Karachi in 1971 (during the India-Pakistan war) to bomb the city. He is now above 90 years of age and is losing his memory. Whenever he gets back his memory, he remembers his only grandson.'

Sanjeev Nanda, son of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, was sentenced to a five-year jail term on Sep 5 for killing six people by bis rash driving in the early hours of Jan 10, 1999 in Lodhi Road here.