No relief to driver who rammed bus into tree, injuring 10

A Delhi court has refused to set aside the jail term of a bus driver for risking the lives of 10 passengers by negligently driving the vehicle and hitting a tree. Additional Sessions Judge Neera Bharihoke dismissed the driver's plea challenging a magisterial court order sentencing him to six months in jail for causing the accident in south Delhi in 2009 in which the passengers got seriously injured. The court relied on the testimonies of the passengers, who were eye witnesses to the incident, and said their statement that the driver did not slow down the bus despite their request, were trustworthy and reliable. "Eyewitnesses of the incident/injured persons have supported the case of the prosecution on all material particulars... "I have perused the testimony of all the witnesses of the prosecution and find them to be trustworthy and reliable witnesses. They have corroborated each other on material points and their testimonies have also remained unshattered and unshaken in their cross examination," the judge said. The court, while upholding the sentence awarded to convict Bikkar Singh, also relied on the mechanical inspection report of the bus which established that it was in high speed when it hit the tree. "All the public witnesses have testified that the passengers received serious injuries and police was called and they were taken to Trauma Centre, AIIMS," it said. The convict had appealed against the November 23, 2016 magisterial court order sentencing him to six month imprisonment for the offences under sections 279 (rash driving), and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC. According to the prosecution, on September 3, 2009 at about 6 am, Singh was rashly driving the bus of route no 520 on its way to Connaught Place here with 10 passengers. When the bus was near Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan near Lodhi Road, the driver ran it over a footpath and then hit a tree, causing grievous injuries to the passengers, the prosecution said. The driver had denied the allegations and claimed he was falsely implicated.