Driver's jail term reduced to 9 months due to 12-yr-long trial

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Narinder Kumar sentenced truck driver Sumodh to nine-month imprisonment, modifying the order of a magisterial court which had awarded him a year's jail term for causing death of scooterist Satpal by hitting him with his rashly-driven truck.

"Having regard to the protracted trial which the accused faced (till September 2012) and considering other facts and circumstances, this court deems it a fit case to reduce the substantive sentence of imprisonment," the judge said.

The ASJ's order came on an appeal by Sumodh against the magisterial court's decision.

According to the prosecution, Sumodh had hit Satpal's scooter near Ring Road, Daryaganj here on July 13, 2000 night with his speeding truck, killing him on the spot.

Sumodh argued he was falsely implicated in the case and that he was not driving the truck rashly or negligently.

He had deposed that his truck was stationary and it was Satpal, who had rammed into his truck at a high speed.

The court, however, dismissed his argument relying on the eyewitness testimony of two police officials, who had said it was the rash and negligent driving of the accused that led to the accident.