SUNILKUMAR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Revision Petition has been preferred by the appellant in Crl. Appeal No.191 of 2015 on the file of the III Additional Sessions Judge, Thodupuzha, against the judgment dtd. 31/8/2017 partly allowing the said appeal, by confirming the conviction under Sec. 279 and 304-A of IPC and Sec. 3(1) r/w Sec. 181 of the Motor Vehicles Act (M.V.Act, for short) and modifying the sentence passed against the revision petitioner.

(2.) The prosecution case is that on 16/9/2012 at about 3.15 p.m., the accused being the driver of the ambulance bearing registration No. KL-22-2388 driven the same in a rash and negligent manner so as to endanger human life along the Kulamavu - Thodupuzha public road and when it reached Ayyakkad -Nadukani, it hit against the jeep, which came in opposite direction, bearing registration No.KL-6-9234, in which PW1, his wife and others were travelling and thereafter, hit against another car, which came from behind the jeep. As a result of the incident, the wife of PW1 sustained serious injuries and she succumbed to the injuries, while PW1 sustained minor injuries. It is also alleged that the accused did not have valid driving licence, at the time of the incident.

(3.) The evidence in the case consists of oral testimonies of PWs 1 to11 and documentary evidence Exts. P1 to P13. No evidence was adduced by the accused. After evaluating the evidence on record, the trial court found the accused guilty of all those offences and sentenced him to undergo various terms of punishment including simple imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000.00 under Sec. 304-A IPC. In appeal, while sustaining the conviction, the sentence under Sec. 304-A IPC was reduced to simple imprisonment for six months and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000.00 under Sec. 304-A IPC. Dissatisfied with the above judgment of the Appellate Court, he preferred this revision, raising various grounds.