Judge who compared laws for cow, human deaths has road-safety tips for parents

Additional sessions judge Sanjeev Kumar, who sentenced Utsav Bhasin to two years in jail for BMW hit-and-run case, said that parents should make children aware about road safety measures.

Irrational laws and road safety were at the back of additional sessions judge (ASJ) Sanjeev Kumar mind while he sentenced Utsav Bhasin to two years in jail for 2008 BMW hit-and-run case. ASJ Kumar, who reminded PM Narendra Modi about laws for human death which are not at par with the strict laws on cow deaths, also had some words of advice for parents.

One person was killed and another was injured in the BMW hit-and run case of 2008. (HT FILE)

In his order, which he requested be sent to the Prime Minister, the judge quoted the words often seen at the back of auto-rickshaws: “Papa, please come back home early.” The judge observed that it was a ‘touching gesture’ and said that it is also the responsibility of families, parents to raise awareness among children about road safety as there is an accident every minute in this country.

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The judge said he hoped that when the prime minister releases the achievements of his government on its fourth year anniversary, steps to enhance sentence under section 304A — death caused by negligence, for which the businessman’s son was convicted — will be included in the list.

On Saturday, the judge sentenced Bhasin, the son of a Haryana businessman, to two years imprisonment and a compensation of Rs 12 lakh. In his order, where he noted that sentencing policy for some offences are not rational because offences such as cheque bouncing and killing a human is only two years while the sentence for killing a cow is five, seven or 14 years in different states.

Read: 14 years in jail if you kill cow, 2 if you kill people: Judge in BMW case

While requesting the prime minister to enhance punishment for human death, he quoted the words of poet Ramavtar Tyagi: ”Aadmi chahe toh taqdeer badal sakte hai, poori duniya ki woh tasveer badal sakte hai, aadmi soch toh le uska irada kya hai (Humankind can change its fate if it wants to, can change the entire picture of the world if it wants to, as long as there is a strong resolve to do so)”.

The poet’s words were used in a song in the 1975 Bollywood movie Jindagi aur Toofan.