Haveliwala's lawyer, Abad Ponda, argued that bail should be granted in cases where accused has been sentenced to less than seven years in prison. The Supreme Court had said that bail can be granted if the sentence is short, he said.
The state government, on the other hand, has sought enhanced punishment of 10 years. Haveliwala was convicted for a drink-driving accident of January 2010 in which her car mowed down two persons including a policeman.
She was sentenced to five years's prison term.
The state has also challenged her acquittal by the trial court under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. It said that she was also on drugs at the time.
Justice Abhay Thipsay of the High Court has said that he would decide the bail plea first and expedite the hearing of the appeal after that.
Following today's arguments, Justice Thipsay remarked that though he would not say that this was not a serious case, other cases of the past such as the Alister Pereira hit-and-run case were more serious. (More)