IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P.No.22398 of 2010 (PIL) Date of Decision:- 03.03.2011 H.C.Arora, Advocate ....Petitioner(s) vs. UT Chandigarh Administration and others ....Respondent(s) *** CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI, CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH *** Present:- Mr.H.C.Arora, petitioner in person. Mr.Sanjay Kaushal, Sr.Standing Counsel with Mr.Deepak Suri, Advocate, for the respondents. *** Ranjan Gogoi, CJ. (Oral) This Public Interest Litigation has been filed seeking the following directions: “(ii) issue appropriate instructions or directions to the respondents to direct all its police officials to immediately ensure the arrest and medical examination of the drivers/persons driving the vehicles causing death of another person in the accident, in view of the fact that recent events (as referred to in the body of the writ petition), including the death of V.N.Singh, a veteran architect and museum expert and Nodal Officer of Le Corbusier Centre wherein also the concerned Police officials neither immediately arrested the accused person nor ensured to conduct his medical examination for the C.W.P.No.22398 of 2010 (PIL) -2- purpose of determining as to whether he was under influence of liquor or not at the time he caused accident by his car resulting into death of Sh.V.N.Singh, thereby leading to the registration of FIR against the driver of the vehicle only under Section 304-A IPC (instead of Section 304 IPC).” The aforesaid directions have been prayed for in the light of two incidents of death that had taken place as a result of vehicular accidents in the city of Chandigarh. According to the petitioner, the arrest and medical examination of the offending drivers in both the cases had been made much after the incident as a result of which the medical examination did not result in any affirmative finding regarding consumption of alcohol. As evident from the reliefs sought, a prayer has been made that all cases of death as a result of vehicular accidents under the influence of liquor should result in registration of cases under Section 304 IPC and not under Section 304-A IPC. We have read and considered the reply filed on behalf of the U.T. Administration wherein the circumstances in which the arrest of the offending drivers in the two cases came to be made much after the incident had occurred, have been set out. In the said reply, it has been further stated that in all cases the offending drivers are arrested immediately and medical examination is conducted soon after the incident. In other cases wherever there is apprehension that the accused of the accident or for that matter even the driver of any car or two-wheeler is under the influence of alcohol, the police officials get him medically examined immediately. Mr.Kaushal C.W.P.No.22398 of 2010 (PIL) -3- further states that this exercise is done irrespective of the fact whether the FIR has been registered or not by that time. However, in a hit and run case or in cases where the offending driver is not immediately available, naturally, time is taken to trace out the whereabouts of such persons and only thereafter arrest and medical examination can follow. Insofar as the two specific cases mentioned in the writ petition are concerned, having considered the details of the events leading to the somewhat belated arrest of the offending drivers of the vehicles, we are satisfied that the circumstances set out in the affidavit filed by the UT Administration adequately explain the situation and the failure of the police to arrest the offending drivers immediately. However, we have also taken note of the stand of the UT Administration that in all other cases steps are being taken to immediately arrest the offending driver followed by conduct of a medical examination. We direct the police Authorities in the UT Administration to act accordingly. Regarding the appropriate Section of the Indian Penal Code under which cases should be registered in incidents of drunken driving resulting in death, we are of the view that no blanket direction can be issued by the Court that in all such cases, the cases should be registered under Section 304 IPC and not under Section 304-A IPC. All would depend upon the facts and circumstances as revealed by the investigation and it is only thereafter, upon having due regard to the such facts and circumstances, that such charge-sheet will have to be submitted under appropriate Section(s) of the Indian Penal Code. C.W.P.No.22398 of 2010 (PIL) -4- Having reached the aforesaid conclusions, we find no justification to keep this PIL pending any further. It is accordingly dismissed. ( RANJAN GOGOI ) CHIEF JUSTICE March 03, 2011 ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) poonam JUDGE