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Delhi's Tis Hazari court has awarded a ten-year jail sentence to man convicted for causing death of two and injuring ten homeless people sleeping on a footpath in Kashmiri Gate area in 2014. This incident took place on August 17, 2014 near Nigam Bodh Ghat on ring road.
While sentencing the convict the court said, "The number of road accidents and the number of deaths in road accidents in India has reached to an alarming situation which needs to be handled strictly." The court expressed concern on the fact that across the world, India has the highest number of road accidental deaths. Despite the enhancement of fines and punishments in the Motor Vehicle Act, the violation of traffic rules has become a norm. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Virender Kumar Kharta sentenced Rishi Kumar. Rishi Kumar has been sentenced to a ten-year jail term and a fine of Rs 5000 for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 Part 2 of IPC. He has been also sentenced to imprisonment of 7 years and a fine of Rs. 5000 for the offence of attempt to commit culpable homicide under section 308 IPC for injuring the people present on the footpath. Additionally, he has been sentenced to a six-month imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1000 for the offence under Motor vehicle Act. All these sentences shall run concurrently. He has been also directed to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh which is directed to be given as compensation to the victims and dependents. The Delhi Legal Service Authority has also been directed to give compensation to the victims as the compensation of Rs 1 lakh is not sufficient. The court said that the convict was aware that the vagabonds used to sit/remain present on the footpath and this fact has been duly proved by the prosecution. "Despite having knowledge, the convict voluntarily consumed liquor and started driving a vehicle in such condition and he had the knowledge that his act could cause death of persons and the innocent victims has no knowledge in this regard," the court said in the order passed on February 12. The court rejected the prayer for releasing the convict on the condition of probation. While sentencing the convict, the court rejected the contention of counsel for Rishi Kumar that a footpath is not meant for sleeping. The court said that it is true that footpaths are not meant for sleeping and same are meant for walking for pedestrians but it is also true that footpaths are also not meant for driving the vehicles. "Due to extreme poverty, the vagabonds do not have any other option except to sleep on the footpaths as proper and sufficient places for sleeping/residing for such people are not available in Delhi," the court said in the order. The court also rejected the submissions that the convict is of young age and unmarried. While awarding the sentence, the court referred to a Report titled as 'Road Accidents in India, 2022' published by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, which said that a total number of 4,61,312 road accidents had been reported by the Police Department of States and Union Territory in the country during the Calander Year 2022 claiming 1,68,491 lives and causing injuries to 4,43,366 persons. The court also referred to another report titled as 'Socio-Economic Cost of Road Accidents in India', issued by DIMTS in association with 'TRIPP-IIT Delhi', the Socio-Economic Cost of Road Crashes is around 3.14 of the GDP of India. Thus, such kind of offences are also adversely affecting the economy of the country, the court said. (ANI)
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