Login With Google
Traffic offences can be penalised under IPC
Why in news?
- The Supreme Court has reiterated that a person can be prosecuted under both the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for driving dangerously.
More in news
- A Bench of SC noted that there is no provision under the MV Act which separately deals with offences causing death, or grievous hurt, or hurt by a motor vehicle in cases of motor vehicle accidents.
- “With rapidly increasing motorisation, India is facing an increasing burden of road traffic injuries and fatalities,” the bench observed adding, “The financial loss, emotional and social trauma caused to a family on losing a bread-winner, or any other member of the family,or incapacitation of the victim cannot be quantified”.
- The Bench’s observation came while striking down a Guwahati High Court finding that the prosecution of offenders under two statutes — the MV Act and the IPC — was unsustainable and contrary to law.
- It also set aside the Guwahati HC’s order to Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh to issue appropriate instructions to their subordinate officers to prosecute offenders in motor vehicle accidents only under the provisions of the MV Act and not the IPC.
Sources
The Hindu