Summary
A bus driver challenged convictions for rash driving and causing injury arising from a 1995 accident; Supreme Court notice was confined to sentence. The Court affirmed the convictions but, considering the particular circumstances, the passage of 26 years and the appellant having remained on bail, replaced the six-month imprisonment terms under IPC sections 279 and 338 with fines of Rs.1,000 each. The existing Rs.500 fine under section 337 remained intact. The additional Rs.2,000 was to be deposited in the trial court within one month.
Issues
- Whether the custodial sentences warranted modification given the exceptional lapse of time after the accident.
Held
- The convictions disclosed no error and were affirmed. The particular facts, especially the 26 years elapsed since the accident, justified substituting fines for the six-month imprisonment terms; the decision did not establish an automatic delay-based exemption from imprisonment. (¶¶ 5, 9, 10, 11)
- The imprisonment terms under sections 279 and 338 were each replaced with a Rs.1,000 fine; the Rs.500 section 337 fine was maintained. The additional Rs.2,000 was payable in the trial court within one month. (¶¶ 11, 12)
Result
Appeal partly allowed only as to sentence: imprisonment replaced by two Rs.1,000 fines, payable within one month; convictions and existing section 337 fine maintained.