Bill proposes 10-year jail for death in hit-and-run cases

India has introduced a proposed law that would impose a 10-year jail term on individuals involved in hit-and-run cases who fail to report the incident to police. The law, part of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, seeks to replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code. Currently, hit-and-run cases are registered under various sections of the IPC, with the punishment for causing death due to rash and negligent driving being two years. The proposed law also includes provisions for defining snatching as a crime for the first time and extends police detention powers to 60 or 90 days.

New Delhi:

Hit-and-run cases are classified as those where police fail to identify the vehicle behind the accident or its owner.

A proposed law on hit-and-run cases, introduced for the first time in India, provides for a jail term of 10 years if a person is found involved in rash driving, escapes the crime scene and fails to report the incident to police, according to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, brought by the Centre in Parliament, seeking to replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In the proposed law, section 104 (2) says, “Whoever causes death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide and escapes from the scene of incident or fails to report the incident to a police officer or magistrate soon after the incident, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description of a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

Besides, clause 104 (1) in the proposed law seeks to increase the punishment for causing death by rash and negligent acts such as driving. “Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

Currently, incidents of hit-and-run are registered under sections 279 (rash or reckless driving), 304A (causing death by negligence) and 338 (endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC. In exceptional cases, 302 (murder) charges are invoked. The punishment for causing death due to rash and negligent driving under 304A is two years.

Hit-and-run cases are classified as those where police fail to identify the vehicle behind the accident or its owner. At least 80,000 people either lose their lives or receive serious injuries in hit-and-run cases every year, according to official data. In Delhi alone, 719 people were killed in 708 hit-and-run accidents in 2021, according to the Delhi Road Crash Fatality Report released by the transport department last year.

There have been demands from road safety experts and victims of hit-and-run cases for a clear definition.

“Instances of hit and run cases are on the rise and it is necessary to convey that one cannot escape the law,” an official said, explaining the reason for including hit-and-run provisions in the proposed law. “By bringing a law on hit-and-run cases or for that matter mob lynching, a framework has been created which addresses social concerns.”

The existing general provision related to rash driving, section 279 of the IPC, has been retained.

Apart from hit-and-run provision, the proposed law also defines snatching as a crime for the first time under section 302 with punishment up to three years. “Theft is ‘snatching’ if, in order to commit theft, the offender suddenly or quickly or forcibly seizes or secures or grabs or takes away from any person or from his possession any moveable property,” it says. “Whoever commits snatching, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

Currently, snatching cases are largely registered under sections of theft by police. “There was no provision for mobile phone or chain snatching from women, but now a provision has been kept for the same,” home minister Amit Shah said on Friday.

A rather controversial provision introduced in the BNSS pertains to detention of accused persons. It gives police powers to keep an accused under detention for 60 or even 90 days from the current 15 days.

Section 187 (3) of the BNSS, which deals with police custody, says: “Magistrate may authorise the detention of the accused person, beyond the period of fifteen days, if he is satisfied that adequate grounds exist for doing so, but no magistrate shall authorise the detention of the accused person in custody under this sub-section for a total period exceeding - ninety days, where the investigation relates to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years; sixty days, where the investigation relates to any other offence.”

The person will be eligible for bail after 60 or 90 days in custody. The new provisions would replace section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, under which police had powers to detain a person for 15 days.

Former law minister Kapil Sibal alleged the BNSS allows the use of draconian police powers for political ends, adding that the government’s agenda is to silence opponents.

“Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023) (BNS) allows for using draconian police powers for political ends. BNS: Allows for police custody from 15 up to 60 or 90 days. New offences for prosecuting persons who threaten the security of state (redefined). Agenda: To silence opponents,” Sibal tweeted.