The union home ministry is busy allaying concerns of truck drivers associations over the seemingly draconian provisions of hit and run cases under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Government officials said that any driver who informs the police of his negligent or rash act will be let off the hook. The stringent provisions of the law are only applicable if the driver runs away from the crime scene and tries to hide his culpability.
Section 106 of the BNS, which replaces the Indian Penal Code, prescribes a maximum of ten year jail term in cases of rash and negligent driving.
The issue came up for discussion with the All India Motor Transport Congress, who are agitating over the issue, and their concerns have been addressed sufficiently, said officials.
During the meeting, the truckers associations raised concern over threat to the drivers life from mobs who gather in such cases in support of the victims.
In such situations where the driver’s life can be under threat and there is possibility of mob violence, he can leave the spot of the incident to travel to a safer place, but he has to still inform the police on time to ensure the life of the victim is saved.
Officials also added that the new law has strict provisions to deal with hit and run cases for those drivers who may leave victims bleeding to death and try to escape the law.
“There will be no action against those who confess to the crime and help the police attend to the victim,” said the official.
Once the case is reported to the police and investigation is complete, it is upto the court to determine its outcome. The court will decide the sentence taking into consideration the evidence at hand, for example whether it was a case of drunken driving, negligence, rash behaviour or judgement of error on the part of the driver before pronouncing the sentence.
The police investigations, meanwhile, have to be on a case to case basis and cannot pre-determine the outcome of any hit and run case, said the official. Government sources said implementation of the new law is the first step in bringing down the rising hit and run cases in the country.
