53yearold driver convicted for rash driving, let off for good conduct

MUMBAI:AFTER an Andheri metropolitan court on Tuesday found a 53-year-old Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus driver guilty of rash driving that left an autorickshaw driver paralysed from waist down, the bus driver was released on probation before his sentencing under the Probation of Offenders Act.

According to the act, the court has the power to release certain offenders on probation for good conduct, when the punishment is not a death penalty or life imprisonment. In February 2015, Shivaji Chorge crashed a BEST bus into the auto driven by Vishnu Dhure, sandwiching the vehicle between a wall and the bus at Vile Parle (East), according to the prosecutor Anil Nandgiri. Dhure said he had no time to escape from the auto, which was parked at the stand.

There were at least three auto drivers witness to the accident that left the auto mangled. The conductor and three witnesses rushed Dhure to the hospital, where it was found he had been paralysed from waist down. S Pathare, Andheri metropolitan magistrate, said the prosecution has proved Chorge’s guilt and convicted him under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Advocate B Chavan, appearing for Chorge, requested for leniency in the sentencing. The court released the convict under section 4 (1) of The Probation of Offenders Act at a bond of ₹25,000 and on condition that he had to be present before the court for his sentencing. The magistrate also ordered Chorge to pay ₹10,000 compensation to the victim.