SC wants stringent punishment for negligent driving causing deaths

Concerned over the rising number of road accidents, the Supreme Court on Friday advocated enhancing punishment for rash and negligent driving causing death.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra directed attorney general Mukul Rohatgi to appear before the court on September 30 to give his views on the proposition. As of now, a person declared guilty of causing death due to rash driving can be sent to maximum two years of jail or penalised.

According to NGO Save Life Foundation, while 1.3 lakh people died in road accidents in 2011, over 4.6 lakh were injured.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, 2004, has projected that by 2020 road accidents will be one of the biggest killers in India, accounting for 546,000 annual deaths.

Justice Misra decided to take up the issue, despite acknowledging that amending the law was within the domain of Parliament. The alarming rise in accident figures required a revisit of the law, the bench said.

“We have said that Section 304-A of the IPC should be revisited so that higher punishment can be provided… We are absolutely conscious, as the aforesaid would convey, it is up to Parliament. However, we would like to hear the learned attorney general for India on this score,” the court ordered.

The court referred to a 2015 Supreme Court verdict in which the court had asked the government to have a re-look at the law and advised its amendment.