Dwarka fatal crash: Cops want age limit of 25 for licence to 17-year-old driver

Delhi Police seek to bar a 17-year-old from obtaining a driver's license until 25 after a fatal accident involving reckless driving that killed a biker.

The Delhi Police on Friday informed a city court that it had asked the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh transport departments to ban the 17-year-old boy involved in the fatal Dwarka accident from obtaining a driver’s license until age 25, citing his “reckless” driving that allegedly killed a 23-year-old biker last month.

On February 3, Sahil Dhaneshra was riding a two-wheeler when a speeding SUV driven by the juvenile, who was travelling with his elder sister, hit him (PTI)

Police said they also wrote to the Uttar Pradesh transport authority, where the offending SUV is registered, requesting a one-year suspension of the vehicle’s registration due to the seriousness of the minor’s offence and the “improper and reckless manner” in which he drove the SUV.

In a 380-page chargesheet submitted before Judicial Magistrate First Class Ajay Narwal of the Dwarka courts, a copy of which HT reviewed, Delhi Police stated that the vehicle — a Scorpio N — has a notorious history of being challaned six times for speeding. However, it is not yet clear who was driving the vehicle on each of those occasions, it stated.

On February 3, Sahil Dhaneshra was riding a two-wheeler when a speeding SUV driven by the juvenile, who was travelling with his elder sister, hit him. Following the collision, the SUV rammed into a parked cab, critically injuring its driver.

The minor did not have a driver’s license. He was apprehended and sent to an observation home soon after the incident. Police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for rash and negligent driving, causing death by negligence, and endangering human life. While the boy initially claimed he was an adult, police later found he was a minor.

The SUV is owned by the minor’s 47-year-old father. He has also been charge-sheeted under Section 180 (allowing unauthorised persons to drive vehicles) and 199A (offences by juveniles) of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA).

The chargesheet, filed on February, 14 stated: “The CCTV footage (of the crash) clearly depicts the offender’s vehicle being driven in an improper, reckless and high-speed manner.”

To support their claim that the juvenile drove the vehicle in a “dangerous manner”, police included statements of the injured cab driver, the driver of the bus coming from the opposite side and multiple witnesses.

Police said that witness accounts and CCTV footage also revealed that a person riding a motorcycle narrowly escaped a collision with the SUV just before the incident.

Police stated they found six previous challans for overspeeding issued against the SUV in Uttar Pradesh over the past several years. The chargesheet stated, “On investigation, six traffic challans for overspeeding have been found against the offending vehicle, which have been captured in speed-capturing cameras. This conclusively proves that the four-wheeler has not followed traffic laws in the past too”.

They added that the identity of the driver of the vehicle at the time the challans were issued is being verified through the Regional Transport Office (RTO), and the call detail records of the juvenile and his father at the time of the challans are being ascertained and will be submitted through a supplementary chargesheet. The present chargesheet lists 42 witnesses.

During questioning, the juvenile claimed that he lost control of the vehicle due to brake failure; however, the chargesheet stated that a mechanical inspection of the vehicle post the accident was not possible due to its damaged condition. According to police, the juvenile’s elder sister, who was making reels on her phone at the time of the incident, alleged that Dhaneshra was speeding and hit their SUV.

The victim was represented by advocate Aman Singh Bakshi.