IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. Appeal No. 493 of 2002 Date of judgment: June 4, 2009 State of H.P. .. Appellant Versus Ranjeet Singh …Respondent. Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Surjit Singh, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 For the Appellant : Mr. Ramesh Thakur, Assistant Advocate General. For the Respondent : None Surjit Singh, J. (Oral) State has appealed against the judgment of trial Magistrate, whereby respondent Ranjeet Singh, who was tried for offences, under Sections 279 and 337 IPC, has been acquitted. 2. Facts, which led to the trial of the respondent, may be stated thus. On 24.12.1996, bus No. HPA-6547 was coming towards Solan from a place called Oiely. When it reached near a place called Sheely Mor, truck No. HP-07-0633, being driven by the respondent, appeared from the opposite direction. It was being driven in a rash or negligent manner and because of that it collided with the aforesaid bus. Respondent sustained injuries as a result of that accident. He was rushed to hospital. 3. Trial Magistrate has acquitted the respondent, holding that the evidence on record does not establish, beyond doubt, that the accident took place due to rash or negligent Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? - 2 - driving of truck by the respondent and that possibility of the driver of the bus, namely PW-4 Ishwar Dass, being rash or negligent cannot be ruled out. 4. I have heard the learned Assistant Advocate General for the State and gone through the record. 5. It has come in the testimony of PW-4 Ishwar Dass as also PW-3 Gautam Sharma and PW-1 Krishan Lal (the later named two witnesses were travelling by the bus) that the bus had overtaken another bus, before it appeared at a curve and collided with the truck. Now when the bus had overtaken another bus, close to a curve, it can legitimately be presumed that the bus was being driven at a little faster than normal speed, because while overtaking some vehicle, speed has to be accelerated, and also the bus went towards right hand side of the driver, while overtaking another bus. PW-2 Bal Krishan, the owner of the truck, stated that when he reached the spot, he came to know that accident had taken place, because one bus had appeared before the truck, all of a sudden, at a curve, after overtaking a mini bus. The witness was not declared hostile by the prosecution and, therefore, there should be no reason to disbelieve his testimony. 6. For the foregoing reasons, I see no reason to interfere with the judgment of acquittal recorded by the trial Court. Hence, the appeal is dismissed. June 4, 2009(ss) (Surjit Singh), J