TEKDHARPRASAD Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a revision petition by the accused whose appeal against his conviction under Z, has been dismissed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Bala ghat.

(2.) According to the prosecution, on the date of incident the accused while driving his truck on Balaghat-Baihar road crushed to death a child under six years old, under the right rear wheel.

(3.) As the evidence stands on record the accused could not be convicted. The child was playing on the right side of the road and its house was just across the road to the left side. It is not the prosecution case that the accused was driving his truck on the extreme right side of the road. Therefore, when the child got under the right rear wheel it could never have got so under it unless it moved from the right side across the road to the left side just when the truck had almost passed. It was after all a child of 6 years old and could not naturally avoid coming under the right rear wheel. The fact that the brakes of the truck were not efficiently working or that it stopped after travelling some distance, has no bearing to establish that the accident was as a result of inefficient brakes or fast speed. The truck had almost passed and there would not have been any accident if the child had not persisted in crossing the road towards its own house. If the child had been crushed under the right front wheel matters would have been different. So I have no hesitation to hold that the child was run over by the truck but not as a result of it being driven rashly and negligently by the accused but solely because the child tried to cross the street just when the truck was passing on the road.