Down with four pegs just four hours ago, Mihir was in a BMW that rammed into the bike; excise officials | India News

MUMBAI: Mihir, the arrested accused in the Worli hit-and-run case, and his two friends had consumed 12 large pegs of whiskey (based on the bill paid to the bar) that night, meaning around four pegs each which according to the excise officials was enough to keep one intoxicated for eight hours. While he and his friends left the bar at 1.30 am, the mishap occurred around 5 am.Thus, the mishap within four hours of intoxication, sources said, must have left a strong jolt to the bike on which the victim woman was riding pillion. Mihir was in a BMW at the time of the mishap.
Ideally, one should not drink more than 120ml in a day, said a senior excise official, though as per WHO, no amount of alcohol consumption is safe for human health. Mihir, who according to excise officials, was less than 25 years of age, the limit set by the state government for consuming hard liquors or IMFLs. The state excise administration has already suspended the license of a Juhu-Tara Road bar that served Mihir hard liquor despite being underage. The bar premises have been sealed until the next hearing slated on July 19 by the collector.
The excise had also found various irregularities with the bar, listed as Don Giovanni Restaurant (Jobel Hospitalities Pvt Ltd bearing license number FL3,1489) on the license, which include selling liquor to non-drinking permit holders in non-permitted areas, non-submission of licensed premises for inspection, mixing the permitted liquor serving area with the non-permitted restaurant zone, variations in the liquor stock permitted against non-permitted, and lack of a liquor transport license for a certain amount of liquor stock. The BMC too has razed illegal constructions made by the bar.
Interestingly, on the cash memo, receipt, or signates, the bar has been named as Vice-Global Tapas Bar located in Juhu Tara opposite Juhu Church Road. Following the Worli hit-and-run, this is the first action taken by the Excise so far, and many may follow soon. It may be recalled that after the Porsche mishap in Pune that killed two young students by a drunk minor, around 60 bars across the Mumbai metropolitan region were closed for 5 to 10 days as a punishment for not following closure timings, for offering liquor to underage patrons, and for not issuing a day’s drinking permit to them. The action was part of the license suspension punishment.
A notice issued by the suburban district collector to the Vice Global Tapas bar on behalf of the state excise has revealed that during interrogation, it was found that Dhruv Jawahar Dedhiya and three others, including Shah, had entered the premises of the bar and were served hard liquor. Of the four, only three including Mihir consumed the liquor and paid the bill worth over Rs 20,000. Mihir, son of Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah, has been prima facie found responsible for ramming his BMW into a couple’s bike, killing a woman who was virtually thrown to a longer distance from the accident spot due to the jolt of his car.