STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. KALYAN CHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Challenging the judgment of acquittal passed by Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Palampur, District Kangra, HP, acquitting the driver of Maruti Van, who was driving at a high speed on a hilly road, could not maneuver the turn and lost control of his vehicle, which went down the road, killing two of its occupants on the spot and injuring other three, the State has come up before this Court in Appeal, seeking conviction of the driver of the Van for the commission of offences punishable under Sections, 279, 337 and 304A of IPC.

(2.) The facts apposite to adjudicate the present appeal trace their origin to the statement under Section 154 of CrPC of Sh. Ram Kumar (PW-1), recorded by the police of Police Station, Palampur, District Kangra, HP. In the said statement of Ram Kumar, who at that time was Vice President (Up-Pradhan) of Gram Panchayat, Giya was present at a place known as 'TIKA DAYALA' and he noticed the aforesaid Van in which there were five occupants and they were going towards Gopalpur side. The time was 8:00 p.m. and the moment the Van crossed the turn/curve of the road, then he heard a huge noise, apparently which was coming because of the impact of rolling of some object down the hill. On this, he along with his companions, went there and found the Van lying in the shrubs around 90 meters below the road. Then they went downhill and rescued three occupants of the Van, whose names were later on revealed as Anoop, Sonu Kumar (PW-7) and Himanshu Awasthy (PW-6). However, in the Van there were two more persons, who were succumbed to their injuries. These people took the injured to PHC, Gopalpur. These people also heard that the driver of the Van had run away from the spot.

(3.) On this information, FIR No. 146 of 2000, dated 5.6.2000 under Sections 279, 337 and 304A IPC was registered in the file of Police Station, Palampur, District Kangra, HP. The police got conducted post mortem examination of both the deceased, namely, Raj Kumar and Sanjeev Dogra, through Doctor Vinay Mahajan, who opined the cause of death of both these persons relating to 'shock' and 'head injuries'. Thus the cause of death of both these persons was due to the accident. The police also took photographs of the accidental van.