Auto driver gets one-year jail for 2015 fatal road mishap in Chandigarh

The accused had crashed into a car on Chandigarh’s Madhya Marg; the auto was being driven at a fast speed and hit the cyclist, Moti Lal, who suffered grievous injuries and also hit the car from the behind

A local court has awarded one year imprisonment to Babbu alias Govind of Kalyan Colony, Khudda Jassu, for hitting a cyclist with his auto in a fatal accident that took place on September 25, 2015. (iStock Photo)

A local court has awarded one year imprisonment to a resident of Kalyan Colony, Khudda Jassu, for hitting a cyclist with his auto in a fatal accident that took place on September 25, 2015.

The accused, Babbu alias Govind, had crashed into a car at Madhya Marg light point. The auto was being driven at a fast speed and hit the cyclist, Moti Lal, who suffered grievous injuries and also hit the car from the behind.

A case under Sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304-A (death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) had at the time been registered at the Sector 3 police station. The accused was arrested and later bailed out. He claimed he was not guilty and opted for trial.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 14 witnesses — including eye witness Balwinder Singh, whose car the auto driver had hit while he was going to Sector 15 via Madhya Marg light point.

The defence counsel for the accused had argued that the prosecution had not been able to prove that it was in fact the accused who had driven rashly and caused the accident and that there are discrepancies in the prosecution witnesses’ statements.

The court, meanwhile, observed, “Every motor vehicle driver is supposed to drive the vehicle in accordance with road conditions, traffic density and presence of pedestrians on the road. If this caution of driving a vehicle in a proper manner is not taken, this would amount to negligence and if the motor vehicle hits somebody from behind, due to such driving this is criminal negligence.”

It concluded that the auto was driven rashly, caused the cyclist’s death and convicted the accused.

While pronouncing the one-year sentence, the court further observed , “Bearing in mind the galloping trend in road accidents in India and the devastating consequences visiting the victims and their families, criminal courts cannot treat the nature of the offence under Section 304-A of the IPC with leniency.”