Youth discharged of culpable homicide charge in ’20 accident case

Mumbai: Discharging the accused from the stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in a 2020 case, where the teenage son of a city businessman died after the car he was travelling in rammed into a stationary bus on Marine Drive during the Covid-19 lockdown, a sessions court has held that though the accused drove the vehicle in a rash and negligent manner, at excessive speed, he was not aware of the bus parked on the road.
"He was not aware that his car would dash the bus and the victim would die. In my considered view, the knowledge that the car would collide with the bus and thereby cause the death of his friend Aryaman cannot be assumed," additional sessions judge SD Tawshikar said.
The judge further noted that this is not a case of drunk driving to attribute knowledge of an untoward incident. "This is not a case where the car killed a person outside the car, to attribute the incident to be a culpable homicide. In the matter at hand, the applicant-driver himself suffered severe injuries in the incident. The incident can at most be the result of a rash or negligent act of the applicant."
While the former section deals with causing death by negligence, the latter is culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Aryaman Nagpal (18), son of Nepean Road-based hotelier Rajesh Nagpal, died in the incident that occurred on May 12, 2020, at about 5pm. The accused, Shourya Jain, also a Nepean Sea Road resident, who also suffered serious injuries, will now be tried before the magistrate's court. The judge directed the parties to appear before the magistrate's court on Dec 9. The enhanced charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder is punishable with up to 10 years in jail.
Jain surrendered before the metropolitan magistrate on August 18, 2020, and was granted bail. He subsequently moved the sessions court for anticipatory bail after the addition of section 304 (II). During the hearing of his pre-arrest bail plea, it was submitted that the charge was enhanced as police found he did not have a driving licence.
However, seeking discharge from the charge, advocate Hrishikesh Mundargi, along with lawyers Mona Sanghai and Paavani Chedha, submitted that Shourya had no knowledge that a fatal accident was likely to occur by his act of driving the car. "The applicant (Shourya) never intended to put the life of his friend along with his own life in danger. Hence, the act of the applicant driving the car and committing the accident cannot be equated with the offence of culpable homicide," Mundargi submitted. "The bus was parked on the main road without indicators. Probably the applicant could not control the speed and dashed the bus…," Mundargi argued.
However, opposing the plea, the victim's father, Rajesh's lawyer, submitted that Shourya was well aware that he did not have a driving licence, yet he drove the car.