A local court has awarded two years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a truck driver after he had an accident with a two-wheeler in 2018 near EWS Colony of Mauli Jagran.
The incident had happened on July 21, 2018. The complainant Raj Kumar of Baltana, who was 50 at the time of the incident, was travelling from Baltana to Mohali. When he reached near the light point of EWS Colony, Mauli Jagran, and was crossing it, the accused Kuldeep of Mauli Jagran, who was 32 years old then, drove rashly in a truck with a Haryana number and hit the complainant from the back. The complainant fell down with his motorcycle.The accused stopped his truck at some distance and came to the complainant while one of the bystanders called the police.
A case under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding in a public way), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Motor Vehicle (MV) Act was registered at the Mauli Jagran police station. The accused was arrested and later bailed out. After he was charged, he pleaded not guilty and opted for trial.
The prosecution examined 10 witnesses to establish the guilt of the accused including the complainant himself. Meanwhile the defence of the accused had argued that the motorcycle had hit the truck from behind and it was not the accused’s fault that led to the accident.
The defence counsel argued that the motorcycle had sustained damages from the front which shows that it had hit the truck from the front. However, the court of judicial magistrate Jaspreet Singh Minhas observed that this reasoning is not tenable as whenever an accident happens the motorcycle falls down and can get damaged from any side.
The court found the accused guilty. When the quantum of the sentence was pronounced, the defence of the accused had made a forceful submission for probation as the accused is a poor person and the sole bread winner of the family. But the court observed that taking into account the nature and gravity of the offence, the accused is not entitled to probation under Probation of Offenders Act.
For his offences under Section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he was awarded RI for three months each and for his offence under Section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC, he was awarded RI for two years. All these sentences will run concurrently while he was also awarded a fine of ₹500 for his offence under Section 3/181 of the MV Act.
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