DND flyway mishap: Court acquits driver, blames victim

A Delhi court has set aside the jail term of a man convicted of rash driving and killing a person on the DND flyway here, while blaming the victim for negligently crossing the busy road, which is a pedestrian-free zone.

Additional Sessions Judge S K Gupta acquitted the man, who was driving a Scorpio car on the Delhi-Noida-Delhi expressway at high speed in 2014 and hit a pedestrian while he was crossing the road after using a public toilet there.

"The DND Road is a busy road which connects Delhi to Noida. The deceased was crossing the road. The DND flyover is a pedestrian-free zone.

"The deceased himself was negligent while crossing the road. The criminality is not to be presumed merely on the basis of accident. There is high movement of the traffic on DND road. The deceased has crossed the road without taking care of the traffic on the road. In such circumstances, it is not possible to save the accident even if the vehicle is at low speed. The appellant (accused) cannot be said to be negligent," the judge said.

The order came on the appeal filed by the man against a magisterial court's 2017 decision holding him guilty of the offences of rash driving and causing death by negligence under the IPC.

The sessions court refused to rely on the testimony of an eyewitness to the incident and said "the bald testimony" that the appellant was driving the offending vehicle in a rash and negligent manner was not enough to prove his guilt.

"There is no other evidence on record to show the manner in which appellant was driving the vehicle to prove rashness or negligence on his part. The prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond shadow of reasonable doubt. Trial Court has not properly appreciated the evidence on record," the court said while setting aside the magistrate's order.

The magisterial court had on April 24, 2017 sentenced the man to one year in jail for driving his car rashly and negligently and hitting the victim, leading to his death.

In his appeal challenging the order, the man contended that the victim was reckless and died due to his own negligence.

According to the prosecution, on March 4, 2014, the complainant and eyewitness Arjun Kumar told the police that he, along with the victim Arjun Singh, was going from Sarai Kale Khan here to Greater Noida via the DND flyway.

He alleged that Arjun went to a public toilet across the road on the flyway and when he was crossing the road after using it, a rashly driven car hit him due to which he first fell on the bonnet of the vehicle and then on the road.

Arjun was taken to hospital where he was declared dead, the police said.