Bus driver gets high court relief as police, prosecution fail to frame proper charge

Panaji: Pointing out the glaring mistake by police, magistrate and public prosecutor by not framing proper charge against bus driver in an accident case where a minor girl succumbed to injuries, the high court of Bombay at Goa upheld the decision of trial court to acquit driver in the case.
Justice Bharat P Deshpande said, “to my mind, the investigating agency, the magistrate and even the public prosecutor conducting the trial committed a glaring mistake by not framing proper charge against the accused and more specifically regarding the ingredients of Section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of IPC.
“Though I am not endorsing the findings of the magistrate, the fact remains that the prosecution has failed to prove beyond all reasonable doubts that the act on the part of the accused was rash and negligent thereby causing death of the said pedestrian girl, more so when no charge/substance of accusation was framed and explained to him. Having said that, the appeal fails and hence stands rejected,” Deshpande observed.
The appeal was filed by the state through Ponda police station, challenging the acquittal of Ambrarai Vatevati, a resident of Karnataka, for the offences punishable for rash driving or riding on a public way, causing death by negligence and other sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.
It is the case of the prosecution that on August 26, 2008, at around 1.10pm near Curti, Khandepar panchayat, Ponda, the respondent being the driver of a passenger bus, drove the said bus under the influence of alcohol while proceeding towards Usgao and in that process dashed against one pedestrian girl, Manju Rajput, 10, near Livrament Bar, who was walking on the left-hand side of the road, causing the death of the girl.
The respondent fled from the spot without giving any medical assistance to the injured or without giving information to the authorities about the accident. Accordingly, on the same day, an FIR was registered against the respondent at the Ponda police station. He was arrested and examined by a medical officer.