The price of a life: Two years and Rs 1,000

Out on a test drive in his Audi A6 car, Sanjiv Mittal, an IT-firm owner killed a man and injured his wife and daughter — the former critically —in Gurgaon on Friday afternoon.

Out on a test drive in his Audi A6 car, Sanjiv Mittal, an IT-firm owner killed a man and injured his wife and daughter — the former critically —in Gurgaon on Friday afternoon.

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Even if he is convicted for the crime, Mittal will only have to serve two years in jail.

After hitting the family who were in a Hyundai i10 car, Mittal allegedly fled the scene leaving them to die, police said.

If the records of Delhi Police are anything to go by, in at least 43 per cent accident cases, the accused are not traced, leave alone arrested.

“This year alone more than 800 cases of accidents have been reported where the vehicle involved has not been traced. The accused simply abandoned the victim,” said a senior police officer. Police say on an average five persons are killed on city roads everyday.

On December 12, 2008, five members of a family were killed when a 16-year-old boy crashed his speeding SUV into a Maruti 800 car near Tri Nagar in northwest Delhi.

The minor along with his friends fled the scene leaving the Scorpio behind, while the family bled to death. He was later caught and produced in a juvenile home. As the boy was a minor, his father was booked under the Motor Vehicle Act and let off with a fine of Rs 1,000.

In Friday's incident, Mittal, an IITian was arrested a good 24 hours after the accident took place as he also fled the scene leaving the victims to die.

Mittal has been booked under Sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt), 338 (causing grievous injury) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of IPC, these sections invite a maximum of two years imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rs 1000.

Delhi Police had recently proposed to increase the punishment of death due to negligence (304 A) from two to three years.

Gurgaon police said they did not conduct any alcohol test on the accused, as it was already more than 24 hours that he was arrested.

"Once the accused flees the scene, even if he is drunk, it becomes difficult to prove whether he had consumed alcohol at the time of incident or not,” said another officer.