IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr.Appeal No.347 of 2003. Date of Decision:10.8.2010. _______________________________________________ State of H.P. ….Appellant. Versus. Baljit Singh. ….Respondent. Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dev Darshan Sud, Judge. Whether approved for reporting1? For the appellant : Ms. Ruma kaushik, Addl. Advocate General. For Respondent. : Mr. Ajay Sharma, Advocate. Dev Darshan Sud, J.(Oral). The State is aggrieved by the judgment of acquittal passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate, Ist Class, Dehra for offences under Sections 279 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code. The case of the prosecution is that on 29.10.1998 at about 1 p.m. complainant Sh.Bhushan (PW5) telephonically informed the police of Police Station, Dehra that an accident had taken place at Sunehat. On this basis, rapat No.10 (Ext. PW5/A) was entered and H.C. Manoj Kumar (PW9) recorded the statement of PW5 Sh.Bhushan under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the spot. He found the deceased, who was the child of tender age lying in the centre of the road. It was stated that one Ambassador Car bearing Whether reporters of the Local papers are allowed to see the judgment?yes. 2 registration No. DL-II-4439 was standing there and on inquiry from the driver, he was informed that the child had dashed suddenly in front of the Car which resulted in the accident. I am not going into the other aspect of the case because the death of the child is an admitted fact. The important point for determination is whether the prosecution has been able to establish its case under Section 279 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code. It is unfortunate that a child of tender years has lost his life in a road accident which feature has become rampant in India. However, in the facts of the case, I find that it has been dealt with in a callous manner. The main eye witness in this case PW2 Meena Kumari. She states that she had deputed one helper Smt. Parkasho Devi to escort the child. However, the fatal accident took place at a distance of 40-50 metres away from the school. She says that the accident was caused by the offending vehicle No. DL-I-Y-4439. She remained on the spot for about five minutes and thereafter she decided to go away from there. To say the least this was a callous act on the part of this witness as she was managing the school and her response to say the least is startling. Learned trial Court, on the evidence and more especially site plan Ext.PW9/B as also the photographs Ext.P- 1 to Ext.P-9 concludes that the prosecution has been unable to prove its case for the reason that the body of the child has been found in the middle of the road. The conclusion is very obvious. That rather than escorting the child, who was aged 3 about four years at the time of the accident, a very cavalier and casual attitude seems to be adopted by PW2 Meena Kumari as also the so called servant who was deputed to escort the child. How the child ended up in the middle of the road when he was being escorted has not been established on the facts of the record. The court relying upon the decision in Gurcharan Singh Vs. State of H.P. 1991 Crl..LJ. 771 holds that where any person comes in front of a speeds vehicle and contributes to his own death, he cannot be charged with criminality. True that in the case of child a driver is required to exercise more care and caution. But at the same time it is not expected that on a busy high way and in this case a road from Dehra to Chintpurni temple which is usually crowed, it is not expected that child under escort would be allowed to walk freely on the road. I am unable to find anything in the evidence of PW2 Meena Kumari to attribute criminality to the respondent. Rather, as I noticed from the evidence she stood there only for about 2/5 minutes only and then walked away. So far as PW5 Sh.Bhushan is concerned, all that I need say is that he is not an eye witness to this incident. This appeal is accordingly dismissed. Bail bonds furnished by the respondent shall stand discharged. (Dev Darshan Sud), Judge. August 10, 2010(R)