Delhi District Court
State vs Anand Prakash on 25 August, 2014
IN THE COURT OF MS.AMBIKA SINGH: METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE-06:
CENTRAL DISTRICT, TIS HAZARI COURTS
DELHI
FIR No. 227/06
State V/s Anand Prakash
U/S 279/304-A IPC
PS: Civil Lines
CC No. 189/2C
U. ID No.02401R0761892006
Date of Institution :28.08.2006
Date of commission of offence : 07.07.2006
Name of the complainant : Sh. Rambhan Singh
Name and address of accused : Anand Prakash Sharma, S/o Sh.
Shivdutt Sharma, R/o A-99, Vijay Nagr
Colony, Bawana, Delhi.
Offence charged with :U/s 279/304-A IPC
Plea of guilt : Pleaded not guilty.
Final Order : Acquitted
Date on which order has been reserved : 25.08.2014
Date of pronouncement of Judgment : 25.08.2014
JUDGMENT
1 The Prosecution has filed the charge sheet against the accused namely Anand Prakash Sharma, u/s 279/304-A IPC. The case of the prosecution in brief is as under:-
That on 07.07.2006 at about 9.40 a.m, near Tis Hazari Metro Station, Bulward Road, Civil Lines, Delhi, within the jurisdiction of P.S Civil Lines, Delhi the accused namely Anand Prakash Sharma, S/o Sh. Shiv Dutt was found FIR No.227/06 State Vs Anand Prakash PS Civil Lines 1/6 driving the bus bearing registration no. DL1P B-4293 in a rash and negligent manner, so as to endanger the human life and personal safety of other and while driving so, caused death of one Shanti Swaroop Chauhan, not amounting to culpable homicide and thereby committed the offences punishable u/s 279/304- A IPC within the cognizance of this Court.
2 After investigation, the accused was charged for the said offences on 11.11.2008 to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
3 In support of its case, prosecution has examined the PW1 Sh. Vipender Kumar, who deposed that on 07.07.2006 he came to know about the death of his father Sh. Shanti Swaroop in an accident at Metro Station, Tis Hazari and went to Aruna Asaf Hospital where, he had identified the dead body of his father. His statement Exh. PW1/A was recorded by the IO and the dead body, after postmortem was handed over to him.
4 PW2 Sh. Jai Kishan deposed that he was the registered owner of the offending bus bearing registration no. DL1P B-4293 and that on 07.07.2006 on receipt of notice u/s 133 M.V.Act he had replied the same vide memo Exh. PW2/A. On the date of accident the bus was being driven by the accused Anand Prakash, who was his driver and identified the accused in the Court. Later, he got released the bus on Superdari vide Superdarinama Exh. PW2/B. 5 PW3 SI Hira Singh deposed that on 07.07.2006 he was working as duty officer at PS Civil Lines, Delhi and that at about 11.15 AM he had received a rukka from Const. Devender, sent by ASI Shekhawat Khan, on the basis of which he had registered the FIR of the present case, copy of which he has proved as Exh. PW3/A and had also made the endorsement on the rukka which is Exh. PW3/B. FIR No.227/06 State Vs Anand Prakash PS Civil Lines 2/6 6 PW4 HC Devender Kumar deposed that on 07.07.2006 he was posted at PS Civil Lines, Delhi and that at about 10.40 AM on receipt of DD No. 14-A he alongwith ASI Sekhawat Khan reached at the spot i.e Metro Station, Tis Hazari, near Subway Bulward Road, where they found one bus bearing registration no. DL1P B 4293 in an accidental condition and that the injured had already been taken to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital. After deploying HC Onkar (beat officer) at the spot, they reached at Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital and collected the MLC of injured, who wad declared by the doctors as brought dead. In the hospital, they also met with one eye-witness namely Rambhan Singh Advocate, whose statement was recorded by the IO. IO had prepared the rukka and sent the same to PS or registration of FIR through him. He after registration of FIR came back to the spot and handed over the copy of the FIR and original rukka to IO. At the spot the owner and driver of the offending bus met them and the offending bus was taken into police custody vide seizure memo Exh. PW4/A. Documents of the offending bus were also seized vide memo Exh. PW4/B, while the seizure memo of DL of accused is Exh. PW4/C. The accused was arrested vide arrest memo Exh PW4/D while his personal search was got conducted vide memo Exh. PW4/E. The offending bus was taken to PS. Thereafter, he came back to the spot and dead body was shifted to Mortury. After postmortem the dead body wa handed over to its relatives. His statement was recorded by the IO and he correctly identified the accused in the Court.
7 PW5 Sh. Rambhan Singh deposed that on the day of incident, he was coming to Tis Hazari Courts from Karampura in a bus, plying at the route no. 926 and when he got down from the bus at Tis Hazari Bus Stop, he saw that mob had gathered there. He went near the mob and saw that an accident had taken place and the name of the injured was Shanti Saroop Chauhan, who was an Advocate, known to him. He made enquiries from the public persons regarding the accident and came to know that one bus which came from the side of Baraf FIR No.227/06 State Vs Anand Prakash PS Civil Lines 3/6 Khana, had moved upon the injured namely Shanti Saroop Chauhan. The injured was taken to Aruna Asaf Hospital in a PCR Van. He also accompanied the injured to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital. Police reached at the hospital and made enquiries from him regarding the accident. Police had obtained his signatures on some written papers, however, he could not read them as he was in hurry to reach the Court. After three hours the injured had expired. He came back to Tis Hazari Courts and made a telephonic call to the relatives of the deceased. He had not seen the occurrence of the accident.
8 PW6 SI Sekhawat Khan deposed that on 07.07.2006 on receipt of DD No. 14-A, he alongwith Const. Devender Kumar reached at the spot i.e Bulward Road, Near Subway, Tis Hazari Metro Station, where they found that one bus bearing registration no. DL1P B-4293 was standing on the road side. In the meantime, HC Onkar Nath also came to the spot. On enquiry, he came to know that PCR Van had taken the injured to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, Delhi. After deploying HC Onkar Nath at the spot, he alogwith Const. Devender Kumar went to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital and collected the MLC of one unknown person, who was declared brought dead by the concerned doctor. In the hospital he met with one Advocate namely Ram Bhan Singh, who stated that he was the eye-witness of the incident and name of the deceased was Shanti Swaroop Chauhan and was an Advocate. Thereafter, he recorded the statement of eye-witness namely Sh. Ram Bhan Singh and prepared a Rukka and sent the same to PS for registration of FIR through Const. Devender and proved his endorsement on the Rukka as Exh. PW6/A. Thereafter, he alongwith the eye witness namely Ram Bhan Singh came back to the spot and sent the dead body to Mortuary Subzi Mandi. After registration of FIR Const. Devender came back to the spot and handed over him the copy of FIR and original rukka. At the instance of complainant, he prepared the site plan Exh. PW6/B and the offending bus was seized vide memo Exh. PW4/A. The accused namely Anand Prakash was also FIR No.227/06 State Vs Anand Prakash PS Civil Lines 4/6 present at the spot. At the instance of eye-witness he arrested the accused vide memo Exh. PW4/D while the personal search of accused was conducted vide memo Exh. PW4/E. In the meantime, owner of the offending bus namely Jai Kishan also reached at the spot, to whom he served a notice u/s 133 MV Act, Exh. PW2/A. The documents of the offending bus were also seized vide memo Exh. PW4/B. He got the postmortem done on the dead body of deceased on 07.07.2006 and also got the bus mechanically inspected by the Mechanical expert vide memo Exh. PW6/C. After postmortem the dead body was handed over to its relatives. He recorded the statement of witnesses. After completion of investigation, he filed the charge sheet in the Court and identified the accused and the offending bus in the Court.
9 Victim impact report has been furnished on record in the present case. Perusal of the case file reveals that PW5 Sh. Ram Bhan Singh Advocate, who is the eye-witness in the present case has turned hostile and despite being cross- examined at length by the Ld. APP for the state, nothing fruitful could come on record from him. He though, admitted that he has signed some papers but denied having knowledge about the contents of those papers.
10 It is well settled law that trial of the case should not be proceeded with if no incriminating evidence appears against the accused person. In the present case, the main eye-witness Sh. Ram Bhan Singh has turned hostile and has not supported the case of the prosecution.
11 Perusal of the list of prosecution witnesses reveals that the other remaining witnesses are merely police officials and doctors, who are not the eye witness of the case and their testimony would be only hear-say.
12 Since nothing incriminating has come on record till date, statement of the FIR No.227/06 State Vs Anand Prakash PS Civil Lines 5/6 accused person was dispensed with in view of the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Satish Mehar Vs. State of Delhi Administration & Ors. 1996, JCC 507, wherein Hon'ble Court held:
"In a case, where, there is no prospect of the case ending in conviction, the valuable time of the Court should not be wasted for holding a trial only for the purpose of formally completing the procedure to pronounce the conclusion on the future date."
13 In view of the same, as the prosecution has failed to establish its case, accused Anand Prakash is acquitted of the offences u/s 279/304-A IPC.
Announced in the open court Today on 25.08.2014.
(Ambika Singh) Metropolitan Magistrate-06(Central) Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi FIR No.227/06 State Vs Anand Prakash PS Civil Lines 6/6 FIR No.:227/06 P.S.:Civil Lines 25.08.2014 Present: Ld. APP for the state Accused in person with counsel Victim impact report of deceased has been furnished today. Same is taken on record.
Perusal of the case file reveals that PW5 Sh. Ram Bhan Singh Advocate, who is the eye-witness in the present case has turned hostile and despite being cross-examined at length by the Ld. APP for the state, nothing fruitful could come on record from him.
Put up for consideration at 4.00 PM.
(AMBIKA SINGH) MM-06/THC/Delhi 25.08.2014 At 4.00 PM.
Present: Ld. APP for the state
Accused in person
Vide my separate judgment of even date, accused Anand Prakash is acquitted of the offences charged with.
In view of the provisions of Sec. 437A Cr.PC, previous bail bonds of accused Anand Prakash are extended for a period of six months.
File be consigned to Record Room.
(AMBIKA SINGH) MM-06(C)/THC/Delhi 25.08.2014 FIR No.227/06 State Vs Anand Prakash PS Civil Lines 7/6