BENGALURU: A 33-year-old man who drove a brand new MUV in an inebriated condition and caused an accident that claimed the lives of two of his friends in 2013 has been convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He’s been sentenced to simple imprisonment for five years and fined Rs 1 lakh.
GS Praseela Kumari, VII additional district and sessions judge, Bengaluru Rural district, in her judgment delivered on January 31 said if the convict fails to pay the fine, he will have undergo another 15 months of imprisonment.
The prosecution secured the conviction under IPC section 304 part II for culpable homicide not amounting to murder where the act is done with the knowledge that it’s likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death, or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.
In a press note, joint commissioner of police (traffic) BR Ravkikanthe Gowda identified the convict as J Bhanukumar, resident of Electronics City. He was 24 years old at the time of the accident and a student. The accident occurred on NICE Road near Electronics City in the wee hours of March 4, 2013 when Bhanukumar was at the wheel of a Toyota Innova, purchased by his father and yet to be registered.
“An inebriated Bhanukumar was driving the Innova at maximum speed on NICE Road. The accident happened near Vittasandra flyover when the vehicle toppled. Two persons in the vehicle — Vishwanath, 22, and Santosh, 20 — died on the spot, while three others, including Bhanukumar, sustained injuries,” the note read.
According to Ravikanthe Gowda, then Electronics City traffic police inspector BK Shekhar sent the blood samples of all the survivors to Forensic Science Laboratory for alcohol test. All the five had partied before going for a spin, the other two survivors said in their statements.
“Besides other common sections of IPC, Bhanukumar was booked under section 304. He spent 26 days in judicial custody before getting bail,” police sources said. In recent years, police have been invoking IPC Section 304 in fatal road accident cases involving drunk driving as against the earlier practice of invoking IPC Section 304A that pertains to causing death due to negligence.
The defence argued that there were no eyewitnesses to the accident and therefore, Bhanukumar should not be held guilty. “The prosecution successfully contended that the accident took place in the wee hours when there would be no eyewitnesses. Besides, the injured persons had given statements saying how they partied that night and Bhanukumar was driving under the influence of alcohol,” police sources said.
