Courts have deprecated galloping trend in road mishaps: Judge

The courts have always deprecated the galloping trend in road accidents in India and its devastating consequences, a Delhi court has observed while refusing to set aside the jail term of a man convicted of causing death of person by driving negligently in 2003.
Additional Sessions Judge Hemani Malhotra upheld the six-month jail term awarded to convict Vijay Yadav, a Bihar native, by a metropolitan magistrate while relying on the testimony of a traffic police constable and medical records.
"The courts have always deprecated the galloping trend in road accidents in India and its devastating consequences," the judge said, adding, "I am of the view that the appellant/ convict has been rightly convicted under sections 279/304A of the IPC. I have no hesitation to dismiss the appeal."

The judge also relied on an observation made by the Supreme Court in an accident case that "India has a disreputable record of road accidents. There is non-challant attitude among drivers who feel that they are emperors of all they survey".
According to the prosecution, constable Gajendra, who was on duty, had spotted Vijay driving a Tata Sumo car in a rash and negligent manner near Rajghat on September 5, 2003. The car hit a scooter which was being ridden by victim Ramesh Kumar and dragged it for some distance.
Due to the impact, Ramesh sustained multiple injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital where he died during treatment, it said.

In his appeal, the convict had questioned the presence of the policeman (complainant) at the spot and contended that he was a planted witness.

He also contended that it was because of the negligence and rash driving of the victim that the accident occurred.
His contentions were, however, rejected by the court which relied on the constable's testimony and the medical records.
"It (argument of the convict) does not hold any water as the careful scrutiny of the cop's testimony reveals that he is a reliable and a trustworthy witness and that he was present at the spot at the time of the accident," it said.

Vijay was booked under sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC on the complaint filed by the constable.
The magistrate had on November 5, 2015 sentenced him to six months in jail for the offences.