Rs 1,500 for a man who killed one driving rash

A man convicted of rash driving which killed one person has been let off with a fine of Rs 1,500 by a Delhi court on the ground that the victim’s kin had accepted a compensation of Rs 50,000 as settlement. Metropolitan Magistrate Navita Kumari held south Delhi resident JagdishPalSingh guilty of rash and negligent driving which resulted in the death of North-West Delhi resident Sachin in November, 2011 near Barakhamba road. The court had convicted Singh after he had pleaded guilty under the provisions of plea bargaining of the CrPC, which provides that an accused can plead guilty to his alleged offence in exchange of dropping of charges or for a lesser sentence as may be recommended by the prosecutor. During the trial, the victim’s kin had accepted a compensation of Rs 50,000 from the accused towards mutual settlement of the offence and had submitted to the court that they had no objection to Singh being acquitted as he had already settled the matter. Seeking leniency, Singh had told the court he is the sole earner in the family and has the responsibility to look after his wife, children and old parents.He had also submitted to the court that he had no criminal history and assured it that he will be careful in the future and will not repeat the offence. “The complainant and legal representatives of deceased have stated that they have no objection if convict is acquitted as he has already settled the matter. ‘In view of these facts and further that the parties have successfully entered into mutually satisfactory disposition, I sentence the accused under section 279 (Rash driving on a public way) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to pay fine of Rs 500... and further sentence him under section 304A IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to pay fine of Rs 1,000,’ the judge said.