MUMBAI, April 1 -- The Bombay High Court on Monday granted bail to Sanjay More, the driver of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus that rammed into pedestrians and multiple vehicles in Kurla West on the night of December 9, 2024, killing seven people and injuring 42 others. The court granted More bail primarily because he had already spent about 15 months in custody while the trial was unlikely to conclude soon. The incident occurred around 9:30pm when More, driving a 12-metre-long Olectra electric bus, the longest in the BEST fleet, lost control of the vehicle on SG Barve Marg. The bus was alleged to be speeding when it lost control, ploughed through approximately 22 vehicles and travelled around 200 metres before stopping after colliding with a cemented gate leading to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar. Initially, More claimed that a brake failure caused the accident. However, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) later confirmed that the electric bus was mechanically sound. More was arrested the same day and has been in custody ever since. He moved the Bombay High Court on April 24 last year after the sessions court rejected his plea in January 2025, stating that his continued incarceration serves no investigative purpose. The prosecution, however, strongly opposed More's application on the grounds that the offence was heinous and alleged that More had knowledge of his actions. "Therefore, he committed culpable homicide," they said. A single-judge bench of Justice R M Joshi held that the maximum punishment in the case would attract the offence of death by negligence and not culpable homicide, observing that only three days of training was not enough for his employer to assign him the duty of regularly driving an electric bus. It also noted that the accused has already undergone 15 months of imprisonment with no sign of the trial commencing anytime soon, and therefore, he deserves to be granted bail....