A local court has refused to accept the untraced report in a 2022 fatal accident case by the police. While the police was unable to identify the driver of a canter who had killed an Activa rider in 2022, the court has directed the police to reinvestigate the matter, stressing that it is not possible in a city like Chandigarh not to have CCTV footage of the matter.
The case was registered at the Industrial Area police station under Sections 279 (rash driving/riding), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life) and Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As per the complaint, on March 18, 2022, at around 10.15 pm, eyewitness Pankaj Sharma, who was a friend of the victim Inderjeet Singh said that he along with his friend Inderjeet were going to Raipur Kalan on Inderjeet’s two wheeler. When they reached near Poultry Farm, Industrial Area, Phase I, Chandigarh, a canter type vehicle hit them. They were rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Sector 32 for treatment.
The eyewitness said that the vehicle that hit them fled from the spot before they could note down its number. Inderjeet expired during the treatment. The victim’s wife Seema Kaur and eyewitness, both said that they have no objection to the investigating officer filing the untrace report in the court. As per the untraced report, no CCTV footage could be found during the investigation and such, the particulars of the car which caused the accident could not be traced.
The court noted that, “After going through the untraced report, the court is of the view that the police have not properly conducted the investigation and there is a scope of further investigation in the matter. Further, this court is also of the view that it is not possible that there were no CCTV installed on the said road and the canter ran away from the spot and the same could not be traced out as the particulars of the canter could not be found. It is highly impossible that there were no CCTV installed nearby in a city like Chandigarh where CCTV is usually installed on almost every light point,” the court of judicial magistrate, Chinu Sharma, observed.
{{/usCountry}}The court noted that, “After going through the untraced report, the court is of the view that the police have not properly conducted the investigation and there is a scope of further investigation in the matter. Further, this court is also of the view that it is not possible that there were no CCTV installed on the said road and the canter ran away from the spot and the same could not be traced out as the particulars of the canter could not be found. It is highly impossible that there were no CCTV installed nearby in a city like Chandigarh where CCTV is usually installed on almost every light point,” the court of judicial magistrate, Chinu Sharma, observed.
{{/usCountry}}“It seems that the investigating officer has not conducted the investigation properly and has just filed the untraced report without any efforts on their part. The report has been forwarded by the concerned SSP without taking into consideration that FIR under Section 304A IPC was lodged. The FIR shows the gross negligence of the driver due to which a young person, the only earning member in the family, died. Accordingly, keeping in view the final report, the police file is returned with the direction to the police to further investigate in the matter,” the court further observed.