Noticing that there is a rise in number of accidents due to rash and negligent driving by “adventurous youth” sans possessing a valid driving licence, the High Court of Karnataka declined to show leniency to a man who was sentenced to six months imprisonment for causing death of a person while riding a motorcycle without licence 12 years ago.
“Driving with youthful adventurous enthusiasm without possession any valid documents, like the driving licence or the insurance policy, as if there are no traffic rules or no discipline of law, has come to the centre stage,” the court observed.
Justice Venkatesh Naik T. made these observations while dismissing a petition filed by Hanumantharayappa of Koratagere taluk in Tumakuru district.
Case history
The petitioner, when he was a 22-years old, had hit a pedestrian with a motorcycle on Koratagere-Uridigere road in July 2012 and the pedestrian had succumbed to injuries later. Following this, he was booked under Section 304-A (causing death by negligence not amounting to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
He was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment by a magistrate court in Koratagere in 2014 and this order was upheld by the sessions court, Tumakuru, in 2015. Besides challenging the two orders, the petitioner had sought leniency in sentence as Section 304-A prescribes sentence up to two years or fine or both.
Enough evidence
While pointing out that there was enough evidence against the petitioner for rash and negligent driving, the High Court, citing judgments of the apex court, said that it is not a case for imposing minimal and negligence sentence under Section 304-A as the apex court had asked the courts to keep in mind the aspect of deterrence while determining quantum of sentence in the rash and negligent driving cases.
