SHARAFUDHEEN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The consequences of reckless driving are manifold. Instances of minors taking the wheel without possessing a license to drive have been on the increase, leading to numerous accidents. Repercussions of such acts include injuries and fatalities not only to the drivers but also to the innocents on the road. With a near immunity against prosecution of a minor, the tendency to indulge in such acts unabashedly has seen a rise, with the owners of motor vehicles not taking due precautions to prevent such acts. The legislature finally stepped in with a provision for parental or owner accountability. Sec. 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for brevity, 'the MV Act') was incorporated in 2019, creating a fiction of guilt on the guardian of the juvenile or the owner of the motor vehicle. Creating criminal liability on the guardian or the owner of a motor vehicle is seminal and has contemporary social relevance.

(2.) All these petitions are preferred under Sec. 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, ( for short 'the Cr.P.C'), challenging either the first information report or the final report filed against the guardian of the juvenile or the owner of the motor vehicle for having permitted the juvenile to drive a motor vehicle in contravention of the Act. Since the main issues involved are common, these cases are disposed of by this order.

(3.) To comprehend the issues involved, the facts in Crl.M.C No. 34 of 2024, which is treated as the leading case, are narrated below. According to the prosecution, on 18/3/2023, at 01.00 PM, the accused had rashly and negligently, in a manner that can endanger other persons, permitted a minor who did not have a licence, to drive the motorbike bearing registration number KL-11-AT-26, owned by him, through the Athanikkal Public Road and thereby committed the offences under Sec. 199A of the MV Act apart from Sec. 336 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The accused is the owner of the motorbike and he challenges the final report filed in C.C. No.403 of 2023 on the files of the Judicial First Class Magistrate's Court, Parappanangadi. It must be mentioned at this juncture itself that petitioner has not produced the FIR, the seizure mahazar or even the statement of witnesses in this petition challenging the final report.