SC awards 2 years imprisonment for negligent driving

New Delhi, June 22 (UNI) Expressing serious concern over the increasing number of accidental deaths in India, the Supreme Court has held that the sentence provided for such accidents is grossly inadequate and it is for the legislature to provide for an appropriate punishment.

A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and DK Jain, while holding a driver Prabhakaran, who was driving his bus at a very high speed and had run over a 10-year-old boy, studying in 4th standard in Kerala, guilty of offence under section 304 (A),IPC, reduced the sentence from 5 years to 2 years.

Both the trial court and the high court had held him guilty of the offence of culpable homicide, not amounting to murder and awarded him 5 years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs 15,000, with an additional imprisonment of 3 years in case of default.

The apex court, in its judgement dated June 21 noticed,''it is contended by the learned counsel for the state that in a case of this nature 2-year-sentence is grossly inadequate. There is substance in this submission considering the increasing number of vehicular accident resulting in death of a large number of innocent persons. It is for the legislature to provide for an appropriate sentence but the statute presently provides for a maximum sentence of 2 years. The appeal is allowed.'' The victim was staying in a hostel of the Tribal Welfare Department.

The passengers in the bus were alarmed by the enormous speed and had cautioned the driver when they saw the school children crossing the road in a queue. The investigation also revealed that even the children crossing the road had raised both their hands for stopping the vehicle. Passengers and pedestrians, both cried aloud, asking the driver to stop the bus. Even after all this the bus could be stopped only 15 ft to 20 ft ahead of the accident spot.

The accident took place in Kozhikode district, Kerala.

Both the courts below found him guilty of offence under section 304, Part-II of IPC but the apex court found him guilty of an offence under a lighter section of rash and negligent driving (304 A, IPC).

According to the court, the estimated annual cost of road traffic crashes in developing countries exceeds 100 billion dollars and this amounts to nearly double the total combined development assistance these countries receive every year from bilateral and multilateral government organisations. Globally, the estimated annual cost of road crashes is 500 billion dollars.

These road accidents often result in orphans and some victims, as young as infants, spend the rest of their lives with medical facilities. Many of those injured or killed are wage earners, leaving families destitute and without a means of support. Almost 1.2 million people are killed each year and 20 to 50 million are injured or disabled. Most people are unaware that road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability.

UNI