Delhi District Court
State vs . Mohan Lal on 30 October, 2013
FIR No. 118/05 U/s 279/338 IPC PS DBG Road DOD: 30.10.2013 IN THE COURT OF SH. VIDYA PRAKASH CHIEF METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE CENTRAL DISTRICT DELHI State Vs. Mohan Lal FIR No. 118/05 PS: DBG Road U/s 279/338 IPC Case ID No. 02401R1361312008 JUDGMENT
A) Sl. No. of the case : 479/2
B) The date of commission : 04.04.2005
of offence
C) The name of the complainant : Sh. Devender Kumar
D) The name & address of accused: Mohan Lal
S/o Sh. Balu Ram
R/o Village Chihaian Bad PS
Fate Pur, Distt. Sinkar (Raj.)
Presently R/o: 11018, Dori
Walan, First Floor, Karol Bagh,
Delhi.
E) Offences complained of : U/s 279/338 IPC
F) The plea of accused : Pleaded not guilty
G) Final order : Acquitted
H) The date of such order : 30.10.2013
Date of Institution: 02.11.2006
Judgment reserved on: 30.10.2013
Judgment announced on: 30.10.2013
State V/s Mohan Lal ("Acquitted") Page 1 of 5
FIR No. 118/05 U/s 279/338 IPC PS DBG Road DOD: 30.10.2013
THE BRIEF REASONS FOR THE JUDGMENT:
1. The accused had been sent to face trial in respect of offences U/s 279/338 IPC by the prosecution on the allegations that on 04.04.05 at about 5.00 P.M at Red Light crossing of Chappar Wala Chowk within the jurisdiction of PS DBG Road, the accused namely Mohal Lal was driving Tata Sumo bearing registration No. DL4CE 8674 in rash and/or negligent manner so as to endanger human life and personal safety of others and while driving the aforesaid vehicle in such manner, he struck against two wheeler scooter no. DL4SAP 0930 which resulted into grievous injuries to the scooterist namely Sh. Devender Kumar.
2. In brief, the prosecution story is that on 04.04.05, intimation was recorded vide DD no. 19A and 21A regarding accident between Tata Sumo No. DL4CA 8674 and scooter no. DL4SAP 0930 at Red Light Crossing Chappar Wala Chowk. The copy of said DD was marked to ASI S.K Srivastava who alongwith Ct. Suresh Kumar reached the spot where both the aforesaid vehicles were found lying there in accidental condition. After leaving Ct. Suresh Kumar at the spot, ASI S.K Srivastava went to Lady Harding Hospital where he obtained MLC of injured namely Sh Devender Kumar who was declared fit for statement. Accordingly, the statement of injured was recorded wherein he disclosed that on the fateful day at about 5.00 P.M while he was returning to his house from Jhandewalan Temple towards Anand Parbat, the driver of aforesaid Tata Sumo hit against his scooter due to which he fell down. The driver of the offending vehicle rushed to help him. In the meantime, PCR Van arrived there. On inquiry, the name of the driver of offending vehicle was revealed as Mohan Lal S/o Sh Ballu Ram. He further stated that the offending Tata Sumo was being driven in rash and negligent manner due to which State V/s Mohan Lal ("Acquitted") Page 2 of 5 FIR No. 118/05 U/s 279/338 IPC PS DBG Road DOD: 30.10.2013 accident had taken place. On the basis of said statement and the MLC of injured,FIR was got registered in respect of offences u/s 279/337 IPC. During investigation, the nature of injuries were opined to be grievous on which offence U/s 337 IPC was converted into Section 338 IPC. After completion of investigation, charge sheet in respect of offences U/s 279/338 IPC was prepared and filed in the court against accused and accordingly cognizance was taken by Ld. Predecessor.
3. Complete copies were supplied to accused as per compliance of section 207 Cr.PC and arguments on notice were heard. Ld. Predecessor framed the notice for the offences U/s 279/338 IPC against accused vide order dated 30.10.10.
4. As per the charge sheet, prosecution had cited Sh. Devender Kumar i.e the injured as the only eye witness who had seen the accident in question. Summons were issued to the said witness repeatedly for different dates but same had been received back unserved with the consistent reports that said witness had sold the house at the given address about 7/8 years ago and shifted to unknown place. Summons were also issued to the aforesaid witness through DCP concerned for 30.10.13 i.e today but summons were again received back unserved with the similar report that said witness has already shifted to some unknown place. Alongwith the said report, the statement of some public person namely Sh Raj Kumar S/o Sh Nem Chand had also been annexed which clearly showed that the only star witness relied by prosecution who had allegedly witnessed the accident in question, had shifted to some unknown place. In this back drop, no useful purpose would have been served in examining other prosecution witnesses who were police officials or other formal witnesses and it would have been an exercise in futility to examine those witnesses. There would not have been any possibility of conviction of accused even if the statements of remaining prosecution witnesses would have been considered to be State V/s Mohan Lal ("Acquitted") Page 3 of 5 FIR No. 118/05 U/s 279/338 IPC PS DBG Road DOD: 30.10.2013 true on their face value. Consequently, PE had been closed by the Court.
5. Since there was no incriminating evidence against the accused, his statement U/s 313 Cr.PC was dispensed with.
6. I have heard Ld. APP for the State and Ld. Counsel Sh B.D Sharma Adv on behalf of accused. I have also perused the record carefully.
7. In order to bring home the guilt of accused for the offences charged against him, prosecution was required to prove the following points:
1. that it was the accused who was driving the offending Tata Sumo at the time of accident;
2. that the accused was driving the offending vehicle in rash and negligent manner;
3. that the accused had caused accident in question while driving the offending vehicle in rash and negligent manner; and
4. that due to accident, grievous injuries were caused to injured Sh. Devender Kumar.
8. Now let us examine as to whether prosecution has been able to prove the charges levelled against the accused during trial or not. As already mentioned above, the prosecution could not produce its only star witness/eye witness namely Sh Devender Kumar who had allegedly witnessed the accident in question in view of the fact that his presence could not be secured during trial as he reportedly left the given address and shifted to some unknown place as per reports in respect of summons issued to him, received in the Court. It was the said witness who alone could have supported the case of prosecution by deposing on the lines of prosecution story that accident had taken place due to rash and /or negligent driving of offending Tata Sumo and also while stating that it was the accused herein who was driving the offending Tata Sumo at that State V/s Mohan Lal ("Acquitted") Page 4 of 5 FIR No. 118/05 U/s 279/338 IPC PS DBG Road DOD: 30.10.2013 time and also that the accident in question was the proximate cause of grievous injuries caused to him.
9. For the reasons mentioned herein above, this Court is of the considered view that prosecution has miserably failed to prove on record that offending Tata Sumo no. DL4CE 8674 was being driven by accused herein in rash and/or negligent manner or that accident took place with the aforesaid vehicle or that the accident in question was the proximate cause of grievous injuries caused to the injured. Consequently, accused namely Mohan Lal stands acquitted in respect of offences U/s 279/338 IPC. His personal bond stands cancelled. However, surety bond shall remain in force for a period of six months. Documents, if any, be returned after cancellation of endorsement if any and after proper verification and identification. File be consigned to Record Room.
Announced in the open court (Vidya Prakash)
on 30.10.2013 Chief Metropolitan Magistrate:
Central District:Tis Hazari Courts
Delhi
State V/s Mohan Lal ("Acquitted") Page 5 of 5