JOGINDER SINGH Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present revision is directed against the judgment dtd. 21/7/2014, passed by learned Sessions Judge, Solan, District Solan, H.P. (learned Appellate Court), vide which the judgment of conviction dtd. 25/5/2011 and order of sentence dtd. 27/5/2011, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No.2, Nalagarh, District Solan, H.P. (learned Trial Court) were upheld. (Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience.)

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present petition are that the police presented a challan before the learned Trial Court for the commission of offences punishable under Ss. 279, 337 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code (in short "IPC") and Ss. 181, 187, 196 and 180 of the Motor Vehicles Act (in short "MV Ac "). It was asserted that Hardev Singh (PW16) boarded a b s bearing registration No. HP-12-4175 at Bagheri n 12/5/2006. The bus was overloaded. Some passengers were sitting on the roof of the bus, and some were hanging from the door. The accused was driving the bus at a high speed. He could not control the bus, and the bus hit the br d e at Kashmirpur. Three people died on the spot. The conductor of the bus, namely Nirmal Singh @ Kaku, and one of the passengers, Pyari Devi, sustained injuries. They were taken to the hospital. Nirmal Singh succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital. An intimation was given to the police. An entry (Ex. PW13/A) was recorded. ASI Prithvi Singh (PW13) went to the hospital for verification. He went to the spot and took the photographs (Ex. P1 to Ex. P9). HC Hardev Singh recorded the informant's statement (Ex. PW9/A), which was sent to the police station, where FIR (Ex. PW9/C) was registered. ASI Prithvi Singh (PW13) investigated the matter. He prepared the site plan (Ex. PW13/B). He seized the bus bearing registration No HP-12-4175 vide memo (Ex. PW13/C). Rajinder Singh (PW11) mechanically examined the vehicle and ound that there was no defect in it that could have led to the accident. He issued the report (Ex. PW11/A). Dr S.S. Bawa (PW7) conducted the postmortem examination of Gu nam Singh and found that he had died due to severe tra matic injury on the skull, chest and abdomen, leading to sh ck and death. He also conducted the postmortem examination of Sunil Kumar and found that he had died due to severe traumatic injury to the skull and brain, leading to failure of higher functions, shock and death. He also conducted the postmortem examination of Nirmal Singh and found that he had died due to multiple fractures leading to hypovolemic shock and cardiorespiratory arrest. He issued the reports (Ex. PW7/A and PW7/B). Dr Sukhwinder Singh (PW8) examined Nirmal Singh and found that he had sustained multiple injuries. He made efforts to resuscitate him but failed. He issued the report (Ex. PW8/B). Dr S.S. Bawa (PW7) conducted the postmortem examination of Chander Mohan and found that the cause of death was due to severe traumatic injury on the skull and chest, leading to severe internal brain damage. He issued the report (Ex. PW7/C). Dr Sukhwinder Singh (PW8) conducted the postmortem examination of Nirmal Singh and found that the cause of death was hypovolemic shock leading to cardiac arrest. ASI Bhup Singh arrested the accused. The accused could not produce a driving licence. Statements of witnesses were recorded as per their ve sion, and after the completion of the investigation, a challan was prepared and presented before the learned Trial Court.

(3.) Learned Trial Court found sufficient reasons to summon The accused. When the accused appeared, a notice of accusation was put to the accused, Joginder, for the commission of offences punishable under Ss. 279, 337 and 304-A of the IPC and Ss. 181 and 187 of the MV Act, and to accused Shyam Lal for the commission of offences punishable under Ss. 180 and 196 of the MV Act to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.