State earns High Court ire for failing to curb drunken driving

Responding to the PIL,a Division Bench of Justice D D Sinha and Justice V K Tahilramani noted the Advocate General had made a statement soon after the filing of the petition in 2002 that measures would be taken to counter drunken driving.

“Ten years have passed (since the filing of the petition),but nothing is coming forward from the state government. If certain statements were made,what has happened on the issue? There has to be compliance…What measures the state has adopted is not known.” Justice Sinha said.

The judges have now asked the state government to file an affidavit replying within two weeks.

Khan had been booked under Section 304A and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code. While he immediately got bail,the case is still pending in the trial court.

The PIL demands that Section 304A,which deals with causing death by negligence,should be made a non- bailable offence. It also seeks the stipulated punishment under the section to be increased from two years to 10 years.

The petition also refers to other controversial incidents involving the actor,including the black buck killing case and threats given to actress Aishwarya Rai.

Meanwhile,referring to the Rs 10 lakh compensation that is to be paid to the kin of the victim,Nurullah Sharif,Khan’s counsel on Monday claimed that the amount has not yet been deposited owing to a dispute between Nurullah’s heirs.

The matter was adjourned for four weeks after the union government also sought time to file a reply to the petition.