Court: Speeding is not negligent or rash driving In an order that may be debated, a trial court has said that driving at a high speed does not amount to rash or negligent driving. The court made the observation while acquitting a bus driver of the charges of rash and negligent driving which led to the death of an auto driver. Terming high speed as a relative term, the court said the word does not indicate negligence or rashness. It was for the prosecution to bring on record material to establish as to what is meant by high speed in the facts and circumstances of the present case. None of the witnesses examined by the prosecution have been able to give any indication, even approximately, as to what they meant by high speed, the court said. The court held that no criminality can be presumed in the absence of any material on record. It added that no presumption of rashness or negligence could be drawn in the case. In view of the above discussions and relying upon the above rulings, I am of the considered view that the prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubts the charge for offences under Section 279 (rash driving), 337(causing hurt by act endangering life of others) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC against the accused, the court said while acquitting the bus driver, Rajpal. The court also pulled up Delhi Police for not showing the skid marks on the site plan of the accident, in which the offending bus allegedly dragged the autorickshaw. The investigating agencies were not probing such accidents in a proper and scientific manner. The site plan which was produced was of a very unsatisfactory nature. The result of which was that even those persons, who might have been guilty for having committed offences under Section 279, 304A of the IPC, were being acquitted on the basis of benefit of doubt or lack of evidence in the case, the court said. According to the prosecution, on January 4, 2002, Rajpal was allegedly driving the bus at a high speed and hit an autorickshaw in the Badarpur area. The impact was such that the bus dragged the auto for some distance. The autorickshaw driver, identified as Umesh, was crushed while a passenger suffered injuries.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 13:51:30 +0000
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