The Supreme Court has quashed a verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had reduced the sentence awarded to a man for causing death by rash and negligent act, holding that showing “undue sympathy” to the accused is unsustainable.
The apex court observed the high court had not at all considered that Indian Penal Code (IPC) is punitive and deterrent in nature and the principal aim and object is to punish offenders for offences committed under the Code.
The top court delivered its verdict on an appeal filed by the state of Punjab against the high court judgment which had upheld the conviction of an accused for the offence under section 304-A (causing death by rash and negligent act) of the IPC but reduced the sentence from two years to eight months, subject to a prior deposit of Rs 25,000 towards compensation to be paid to the family of the deceased.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar noted in its March 28 verdict that while reducing the sentence the high court had not considered the gravity of the offence and the manner in which the accused committed it by driving an SUV in a rash and negligent manner due to which one person died and two others, who were travelling in an ambulance, sustained injuries.
“The high court has also not properly appreciated and considered the fact that due to collision, the ambulance turned turtle. This shows the impact on the ambulance and the rash and negligent driving on the part of the accused,” it said, adding cogent reasons were given by the trial court which had sentenced the accused to two years in jail.
The road accident had taken place in January 2012 when an SUV driven by the accused hit an ambulance which was coming from Chandigarh and going towards Mohali.
Referring to a previous judgement of the apex court, the bench noted it was observed that the top court had, time and again, emphasised on the need to strictly punish offenders responsible for causing motor vehicle accidents.
