State Tr.P.S.Lodhi Colony,New Delhi vs Sanjeev Nanda

4. On 12.04.2010, limited notice was issued to the respondent by this Court, which reads as under:

5. On the intervening night of 9/10.01.1999, an unfortunate motor accident took place involving BMW Car No.M-312LYP. At the relevant point of time, it is no more in dispute that offending vehicle BMW was being driven by respondent. As per prosecution story, the said vehicle was coming from Nizamuddin side and was proceeding towards Lodhi Road. Just at the corner from where Lodhi Road starts, seven persons were standing on the road at about 4.00 a.m. In the said car, Manik Kapur and Sidharth Gupta (since discharged) were also sitting.

6. As per prosecution story, Manoj Malik (P.W.2) had started from his house to leave friends Nasir, Mehendi Hasan and his friend Gulab at Nizamudin Railway Station on foot. When they reached the petrol pump of Lodhi Road, three police officials of checking squad, Constables Rajan, Ram Raj and Peru Lal, stopped them and started checking. In the meantime, BMW car driven rashly and negligently came from Nizamuddin side at a high speed and dashed violently against them. The impact was so great and severe, that they flew in the air and fell on the bonnet and wind screen of the car. Some of them rolled down and came beneath the car. On account of this, accused lost control of the vehicle which swerved to right side of the road and ultimately hit the central verge. The persons who had come under the car were dragged up to that point. Manoj (P.W.2) who had fallen on the bonnet fell down at some distance but did not come under the wheels. After hitting the central verge, car finally stopped at some distance, respondent came out from the car and inspected the gruesome site. It is said that co-passenger Manik Kapur asked the accused to rush from the scene of occurrence. Injured persons were shouting and crying for help. But ignoring them, he drove away the car at high speed towards Dayal Singh College, even though there were still some persons beneath the car. In the said accident ultimately six of them were killed and Manoj (P.W.2) was injured. Accused then took the car to his friend Sidharth Gupta’s house at 50, Golf Links, New Delhi.

8. Prosecution alleges that PW.1 Hari Shankar, attendant at the petrol pump saw the accident and immediately informed telephonically his employer Brijesh Virmani, (P.W.70) who in turn informed the PCR at No.100. On getting the necessary information, police acted with promptitude. The telephonic information was recorded as DD No. 27-A.

9. Pursuant to the information being received, SI Kailash Chand reached the spot. By that time few PCR vans had already reached as the news about the accident was flashed. First to reach the spot was A.S.I. Devendra Singh (P.W.36), who carried Manoj Malik to the hospital. The other PCR vans took the remaining injured /deceased persons to the hospital.

10. S.I. Kailash Chand (P.W.58) wrote a Rukka describing the scene of crime. As per his description, he had found three persons, two constables Ravi Raj and Rajan and one person dead on the spot. He also came to know that other four injured persons were taken in another PCR van to the hospital. He found one broken number plate and other broken parts of the car. When plate was reassembled, the number read as M312LYP BMW. One black colour piece of bumper and rear view mirror were found scattered between 100 to 150 feet. Head of one person was found crushed. There were skid marks of the tyres of the vehicle on the spot for a long distance. The body of another constable namely, Ram Raj was found crushed and his right leg was found at a distance of 10 to 15 feet away. Abdomen of Constable Rajan Kumar was completely ripped open and blood was oozing out on the road. All the three dead bodies were sent to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by ambulance.

11. Thus, it was clear to SI Kailash Chand that offending vehicle was a black colour BMW car having the aforesaid number plate. Looking to the nature of crime said to have been committed, he recommended registration of FIR under Section 338/304 IPC. The said Rukka was dispatched to the Police Station, where formal FIR was registered.

17. On conclusion of trial, after appreciating the evidence available on record, the trial court found respondent guilty of commission of offence under Section 304 Part II of the IPC and awarded him a jail sentence of five years. He was acquitted of other charges. However, accused Rajeev Gupta, Shyam Singh and Bhola Nath were convicted under Section 201 IPC. Rajeev Gupta was sentenced to undergo a sentence of one year and Bhola Nath and Shyam Singh to undergo a sentence of six months each.

20. Other accused Rajeev Gupta, Shyam and Bhola were found guilty of commission of offence under Section 201 of the IPC and were awarded six months’ and three months’ RI respectively. As mentioned hereinabove, they have preferred separate appeals against the said judgment and order of conviction, which were heard separately. Their appeals have been allowed and they have been acquitted of the charge under Section 201 of the IPC.

44. In the case in hand, no useful purpose is going to be served by sending the respondent accused Sanjeev Nanda to jail once again. Even though in the facts and circumstances of the case, jail sentence awarded to him may not be just and appropriate but as mentioned hereinabove, the mitigating circumstances tilt heavily in favour of the accused.

5. We are in this case primarily concerned with the charge against Sanjeev Nanda – the first accused. Prosecution in order to establish the guilt examined 61 witnesses, of which Sunil Kulkarni was given up by the prosecution and was examined as a court witness. Upon completion of the prosecution evidence, accused persons were questioned and statements of the accused persons were recorded under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C. On the side of the accused, DW1 to DW9 were examined. Documentary evidences such as FSL report exhibited as P16/A etc. were also produced. The trial court vide judgment dated 02.09.2008, as already stated, found the first accused guilty under Section 304(II) of the IPC and awarded the sentence of five years rigorous imprisonment.

45. In the light of the aforesaid discussion, the appeal is partly allowed. The judgment and order of conviction passed by Delhi High Court is partly set aside and the order of conviction of Trial Court is restored and upheld. Accused is held guilty under Section 304 Part II of the IPC. Looking to the facts and circumstances of the same, we deem it appropriate to maintain the sentence awarded by the High Court, which he has already undergone. However, we make it clear that this has been held so, looking to very peculiar facts and features of this particular case and it may not be treated as a precedent of general proposition of law on the point, for other cases.

46. Appeal stands allowed to the aforesaid extent. Accused has already undergone the sentence awarded to him by the High Court. Thus, he need not undergo any further sentence.

1. I had the benefit and privilege of carefully considering the judgment delivered by my esteemed brother. However, I find it difficult to agree with some of the findings and observations recorded therein, even though I agree with most of the major conclusions, however, with a caveat. I, therefore, deem it fit and proper to supplement it with few suggestions and directions.

Duty of Driver, Passengers and Bystanders

38. Seldom, we find that the passing vehicles stop to give a helping hand to take the injured persons to the nearby hospital without waiting for the ambulance to come. Proper attention by the passing vehicles will also be of a great help and can save human lives. Many a times, bystanders keep away from the scene, perhaps not to get themselves involved in any legal or court proceedings. Good Samaritans who come forward to help must be treated with respect and be assured that they will have to face no hassle and will be properly rewarded. We, therefore, direct the Union of India and State Governments to frame proper rules and regulations and conduct awareness programmes so that the situation like this could, to a large extent, be properly attended to and, in that process, human lives could be saved.

Hostile Witnesses

53. We may now examine the mitigating and aggravating circumstances and decide as to whether the punishment awarded by the High Court is commensurate with the gravity of the offence.

55. Following are, in our view, the aggravating circumstances unfolded in this case:

56. Payment of compensation to the victims or their relatives is not a mitigating circumstance, on the other hand, it is a statutory obligation. Age of 21, as such is also not a mitigating factor, in the facts of this case, since the accused is not an illiterate, poor, rustic villager but an educated urban elite, undergoing studies abroad. We have to weigh all these mitigating and aggravating circumstances while awarding the sentence.

Sentencing

57. We have to decide, after having found on facts, that this case would fall under Section 304 Part II, what will be the appropriate sentence. Generally, the policy which the court adopts while awarding sentence is that the punishment must be appropriate and proportional to the gravity of the offence committed. Law demands that the offender should be adequately punished for the crime, so that it can deter the offender and other persons from committing similar offences. Nature and circumstances of the offence; the need for the sentence imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offence; to afford adequate deterrence to the conduct and to protect the public from such crimes are certain factors to be considered while imposing the sentence.

Community Service for Avoiding Jail Sentence

61. In the facts and circumstances of the case, where six human lives were lost, we feel, to adopt this method would be good for the society rather than incarcerating the convict further in jail. Further sentence of fine also would compensate at least some of the victims of such road accidents who have died, especially in hit and run cases where the owner or driver cannot be traced. We, therefore, order as follows:

The Appeal is allowed to the aforesaid extent and the accused is sentenced as above.

........………..……………………….……J. (DEEPAK VERMA) ……..…………………….………….J. (K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN) New Delhi, August 3, 2012 REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1168 OF 2012 [Arising out of S.L.P. (Crl.) No.3292 of 2010] State Tr.P.S.Lodhi Colony ....Appellant New Delhi Versus Sanjeev Nanda ....Respondent O R D E R

1. Delay condoned.

2. Leave granted.

3. In the light of separate judgments pronounced by us today, the judgment and order of conviction passed by Delhi High Court under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is set aside and the order of conviction of Trial Court under Section 304 Part II of the I.P.C. is restored and upheld. However, we deem it appropriate to maintain the sentence awarded by the High Court, which the accused has already undergone.

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The Appeal is accordingly allowed in terms of the judgments and this common order.