New Delhi, A Delhi court has upheld the conviction of a man in a 2013 case involving a fatal road accident in Hauz Khas, saying driving at high speed, hitting a motorcyclist and a pedestrian, and mounting a footpath demonstrate a total disregard for the duty of care owed to other road users.
In an order dated October 5, the court said, “The rejection of probation by the trial court is in complete harmony with the binding Supreme Court judgments, which mandate that custodial sentence in fatal road accidents is essential for public safety and legal deterrence.”
It noted that the trial court had already taken a lenient view by imposing three months’ simple imprisonment for the offence of causing death by negligence, one month for causing hurt and 15 days for rash driving, with all sentences to run concurrently. Because malik was discharged from the hospital before he died, the court relied on the medical evidence establishing that his head injuries and related complications had caused his death, rejecting the argument that the death could not be linked to the accident.
The case relates to an accident on August 8, 2013, when Sharma’s car allegedly hit a motorcycle driven by Tarun Awasthi and subsequently, struck pedestrian Zakir Malik on Dalip Singh Marg in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas area.
