Delhi District Court
State vs . Harjinder Singh on 4 February, 2015
STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH
IN THE COURT OF SH. SUNIL BENIWAL, ADDITIONAL CHIEF
METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE (SHAHDARA), KKD COURTS DELHI.
FIR No.377/2008
PS : Anand Vihar
U/s 279/337/304A IPC
State vs. Harjinder Singh
a) Serial No. of the case : 02402R0061182009
b) Date of Institution : 24.02.2009
c) Date of commission of offence : 20.07.2008
d) Name of complainant : Sh. Anil Sharma
e) Name of the accused, and : Harjinder Singh
parentage and address S/o Sardar Balwant
Singh
R/o M46, Hari Nagar,
New Delhi.
f) Offence complained of : U/s 279/337/304A IPC
g) Plea of the accused : Pleaded not guilty
h) Date of judgment reserved : 24.12.2014
i) Final order : Conviction
j) Date of such Order : 04.02.2015
JUDGEMENT
1. This is the judgment of the case, State versus Harjinder Singh in case FIR number 377/08 of police station Anand Vihar under sections FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 1/9 STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH 279/337/304A of the Indian penal code. Notice under Section 251 CRPC was given to the accused that on 20 July 2008 at about 5:15 AM in between the in gate and out gate of interstate bus terminal, Anand Vihar on road number 56, Delhi, accused was alleged to have been driving a Delhi transport Corporation bus bearing number DL1PB0839 in a rash and negligent manner so as to endanger human life and public safety of others and while driving the said vehicle in the said manner accused allegedly hit the complainants namely Mr Anil Sharma son of same Shri Raja Ram Sharma and one Mr Virender Sharma also son of same Shri Raja Ram Sharma thereby causing simple injury to Mr Anil Sharma and death of Mr Virender Sharma and hence have committed offences under section 279/337/304A of the Indian penal code. Accused pleaded not guilty to the abovementioned offences and stated that he was not disputing the MLC bearing number 399/08 dated 20 July 2008, MLC number 400/08 dated 20 July 2008 of Yashoda hospital, postmortem report number 983/08 dated 28 July 2008 and mechanical inspection report dated 24 July 2008. Accused also did not dispute the genuineness of FIR number 377/08, dead body identification statement of Naresh kumar Sharma dated 28 July 2008. Accused also waived the physical production of the cycle bearing number SJ186321 which was a case property along with exhibit S1 and S2 which are the bonds of release of the abovementioned bicycle number which met with an accident with the FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 2/9 STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH offending vehicle. So, the evidence of these witnesses was dispensed with.
2. After participating in the abovementioned admission/denial of documents and other proceedings, the case proceeded with recording of prosecution evidence. Prosecution examined four witnesses. Prosecution witness number one is constable Naresh kumar who deposed that on the day of incident, that is, 20 July 2008 he was posted at police post ISBT, Anand Vihar as a constable and he was present on duty at out gate of an ISBT Anand Vihar and his duty hours were from 8 PM to 8 AM. On that day he was called in the police post and was handed over DD number 18 for handing it over to the investigating officer Head Constable Harpal Singh. He went near EDM mall near road number 56 and handed over the DD number 18 to the investigating officer and along with the investigating officer he went to the Yashoda hospital, Ghaziabad and the investigating officer received MLC of injured Virender and Anil Sharma where they came to know that both the injured persons have been referred to Trauma Centre, Delhi. Thereafter they went to the trauma centre, Civil Lines where the investigating officer recorded the statement of injured Anil Sharma, prepared the rukka and handed it over to him for the registration of FIR. He went to the police station and got registered the FIR and went back to the spot where the accident had occurred where he FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 3/9 STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH was met by the investigating officer and handed over the copy of the FIR to the investigating officer. The Investigating Officer prepared the site plan in the presence of complainant Anil Sharma and also seized the offending vehicle, bus bearing registration number DL1PB0839 through seizure memo exhibit PW1/A which bears the signature of the witness at point A. The Investigating Officer also seized the bicycle which was lying on the spot in accidental condition through seizure memo exhibit PW1/B which also bears the signature of this witness at point A. Accused was also present on the spot as the driver of the offending vehicle, therefore the investigating officer arrested the accused and also conducted his personal search through memo exhibit PW1/C and PW1/D which also bears the signature of the witness at point A. The investigating officer also took the signatures of complainant Anil Sharma on the arrest and personal search memos as he was also present there at the time. Investigating officer also recorded the statement of prosecution witness number one, constable Naresh kumar on the spot and the accused was correctly identified by this witness to be present in the court on that day when his evidence was recorded. Case property was exempted from production as the accused had admitted the superdarinama for the offending vehicle as well as the bicycle which was exhibited as exhibit S 1 and exhibit S 2. This witness was crossexamined by the accused but the cross examination was not useful or helpful to the accused in anyway.
FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 4/9
STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH
3. Prosecution witness number two is constable Bhujender Singh. He deposed that on 20.07.2008 he working as DD writer and he received information from HC Surender on telephone that injured Virender Sharma met with an accident by bus route no.740 bearing registration no.DL1PB0839 and admitted to Trauma Centre for which he recorded DD no.18 and handed it over to Ct. Naresh for handing it over to HC Harpal Singh.
4. PW3/SI Shahid Ahmed deposed that he along with IO/HC Harpal reached Trauma Centre, Civil Line near Chandiram Akhara where he prepared the inquest paper Ex.PW3/A of deceased Virender Sharma and took the dead body of deceased to Sabji Mandi Mortuary where Anil the brother of deceased and Naresh Kumar Sharma, the brotherinlaw of deceased identified the dead body. PW3 deposed that he recorded the statements Ex.PW3/B & Ex.A1 of Anil and Naresh Kumar Sharma respectively.
5. PW4/Anil Sharma is the material witness of the prosecution. He is one of the victim/injured of the accident and also the brother of the deceased. He deposed that on 20.07.2008 at about 5:15p.m he along with his brother Virender Sharma was coming from his duty on a bicycle and FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 5/9 STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH his brother was pillion rider whereas he was riding it when they reached in front of ISBT Anand Vihar near Chauraha, immediately one DTC bus bearing no.839 came from back side and hit his bicycle from back side. Due to the impact, PW4 along with his brother Virender Sharma fell down on the ground and some public persons helped them to hire an auto rickshaw and they reached Yashoda Hospital. PW4 further deposed that he could not identify the person who was driving the DTC bus and caused the accident as he had not seen the face of the driver at the time of incident since he was unconscious. He further deposed that he did not remember the complete registration number of the DTC bus. He also deposed that he did not know the name of the driver of the offending bus. He further deposed that police had not arrested any person in the present case and obtained his signatures on some documents at Police Station Anand Vihar.
6. Statement of accused was recorded U/S 313 Cr.P.C wherein accused had denied that he had caused the accident but he had admitted that he was driving the bus no.DL1PB0839. He deposed that as soon as he drove the said bus out of ISBT Anand Vihar, it was stopped by a police officer whose name he did not know and he was taken to police station where he was made to sit till 2:00 a.m in the morning. He further deposed that he was asked to sign some papers after which he was allowed to go.
FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 6/9
STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH
7. Though the material witness PW4 who is the sole eye witness of the incident had failed to identify the accused present in court as the driver of the bus who had caused his accident but PW4 categorically deposed that when they reached in front of ISBT Anand Vihar near Chauraha, immediately one DTC bus bearing no.839 came from back side hit his bicycle from back side. Due to the impact, PW4 along with his brother Virender Sharma fell down on the ground. PW4 also deposed that he did not remember the full registration number of the DTC bus which means PW4 knew that it was a DTC bus.
8. The only defence taken by accused is that the DTC bus no.DL1PB0839 driven by him had not caused the accident but he has not led any evidence to prove that there was another DTC bus bearing registration no.839 which was plied by some other driver. Accused admitted that he was present at ISBT Anand Vihar where the accident occurred. Accused has deposed that he was falsely implicated in the present case but in his statement he had nowhere deposed that he knew the PW4/Anil Sharma or the police official who had stopped him when he was driving the offending vehicle out of ISBT Anand Vihar or there was any previous enmity. Moreover, accused had deposed that he did not know the name of police official who had stopped the offending vehicle FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 7/9 STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH when he was driving it.
9. Accused had admitted MLC bearing number 399/08 dated 20 July 2008, MLC number 400/08 dated 20 July 2008 of Yashoda hospital of the deceased Virender Sharma and injured Anil Sharma respectively, postmortem report number 983/08 dated 28 July 2008 of deceased Virender Sharma and mechanical inspection report dated 24 July 2008 of the offending bus, dead body identification statement of Naresh kumar Sharma dated 28 July 2008.
10. The MLC of the deceased Virender Sharma of Yashoda Hospital clearly shows the date of accident as 20.07.2008 at 5:15p.m in which "alleged history of RTA" has been mentioned by the doctor. The MLC also suggests that the injured was brought to the hospital by another injured Anil Sharma. The death report of the deceased Virender Sharma issued by Aruna Asaf Ali, Government Hospital and the postmortem report are on record. The above medical documents produced by the prosecution clearly show that the injured Virender Sharma succumbed to his injuries. Accused caused the fatal accident of the injured due to which he lost his life. No reason has been assigned by the accused for his false implication in the present case. The circumstantial evidence has duly proved that accused was very much present on the spot at the time of FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 8/9 STATE vs. HARJINDER SINGH accident and caused the accident while driving DTC bus no. DL1PB0839.
11. In view of the above discussion, accused Harjinder Singh is held guilty of rash and negligent driving of offending bus due to which one of the injured received grievous injuries and after some time succumbed to the injuries and the other injured received simple injuries. Accused is convicted for the offences punishable U/S 279/337/304A IPC.
Announced in Open Court (SUNIL BENIWAL)
04.02.2015 Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Shahdara Distt., KKD Courts, Delhi
FIR NO.377/2008 PS Anand Vihar PAGE 9/9