Observing that a vehicle may be “rashly or negligently driven” even without “high speed”, a Delhi court ordered the re-trial of a road accident case, where the driver of a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) recovery van had been acquitted.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala directed a trial court to conduct re-trial of the case, in which a biker was killed after the bike was allegedly hit by a DTC recovery van driven by accused Virender Singh.
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Acquitting Singh, the magisterial court had concluded that the DTC van was towing another bus, and hence, it was impossible for the offending vehicle to be driven at a high speed.
Objecting to the explanation, the sessions court observed, “Recovery van was towing another vehicle and it is not always a case that a vehicle travelling at a high speed is assumed to be driven in a rash or negligent manner. A vehicle may be rashly or negligently driven without high speed as well,” the court said.
According to the prosecution, Singh was driving the van in a rash and negligent manner and hit a motorcycle. The rider Ikram died due to the accident.
The trial court, however, discharged the accused, observing that he was connected to the case only on the basis of the statement of an eyewitness who was produced later by police.
The trial court had noted that just to solve the case, a person was made to pose as an eyewitness.
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However, the sessions court, directing re-trial in the case, said the present case “prima-facie” disclosed commission of offence under IPC Sections 279 (driving rashly and negligently) and 304-A (causing death by rash or negligent act) against Singh.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
