16 years on, motorist gets 2-year jail for cyclist’s death

Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 6

Sixteen years after a man caused the death of a cyclist by rash driving, a city court has awarded him a jail term of two years. Holding the Punjab resident guilty of the offence punishable under Sections 279, 337, 304 (Part II) and 201 of the IPC, Rajesh Sharma, Additional Sessions Judge, sentenced him to two-year imprisonment.

The incident

Kamaljit Singh, a resident of Bhikhariwal village in Gurdaspur district, had hit the cyclist with his car in Sector 61 on February 20, 2004. When people gathered at the spot, he took the injured saying that he would admit him to a hospital. However, instead of admitting him to a hospital, he threw him on the road in the Industrial Area, Mohali, where the injured was found dead two days after the incident.

The court also pronounced imprisonment of periods ranging from six months to one year under various Sections of the IPC. All sentences shall run concurrently. The court also imposed a fine of Rs2,500 for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 201 of the IPC.

Kamaljit Singh, a resident of Bhikhariwal village in Gurdaspur district, had hit the cyclist with his car in Sector 61 on February 20, 2004.

When people gathered at the spot, he took the injured saying that he would admit him to a hospital. However, instead of admitting him to a hospital, he threw him on the road in the Industrial Area, Mohali, where the injured was found dead two days after the incident.

The police had registered a case on February 21, 2004, at the Sector 61 police post. Constable Baljit Singh was an eyewitness to the incident and had got his statement recorded. He had stated that a white Tata Sumo (PB 01 3358), which was being driven in a rash and negligent manner, came from the Chandigarh side and hit a cyclist, who fell and got injured.

The driver stopped his vehicle, alighted and took the injured in his car. Two days after the incident on February 22, 2004, the police received information that a body was lying near the Asian Paints factory in Mohali.

After verifying the facts, it transpired that the driver had not taken the injured to a hospital and threw him on the way. Though an FIR was registered against the accused on February 21, 2004, he evaded arrest. The court ruled that the accused had committed culpable homicide not amounting to murder without an intention to cause death but with the knowledge that it was likely to cause death, punishable under Sections 304 (Part II) of the IPC. The court heard the arguments through video-conferencing.