A deterrent punishment is vital in fatal road accident cases so that persons plying vehicles bear in mind that they will face serious consequences, a Delhi court has said while upholding a truck driver’s two-year jail term for crushing a man under the wheels.

Refusing to sympathise with the convict, Additional Sessions Judge Suresh Kumar Gupta said “a person who plays with fire cannot complain of burnt fingers”.

The court’s observations came while rejecting the appeal of driver Rashid Ali against his conviction and sentence for the offence of causing death by negligence under section 304A of the IPC.

“One person has lost his life. The deterrent punishment is more important in road accident cases so that persons who ply vehicles on road must bear in mind that they will have to face serious consequences including conviction and imprisonment in case of fatal accident.

“The appellant (driver) cannot claim sympathy because a person who plays with fire cannot complain of burnt fingers.

Leniency in such cases will do injustice to family members of the deceased. A stern message has to be given to the society.

To my mind, trial court has rightly passed the sentence,” the judge said.

The court, however, acquitted him of the charge of holding a fake driving licence saying there was no evidence on record to prove the same.

Ali had moved the sessions court against the March 22, 2017 verdict of a trial court here sentencing him to two years rigorous imprisonment.

In his appeal he claimed that the trial court had passed the judgement on the basis of surmises and conjectures and there was no evidence that he was driving the offending truck.

The sessions court upheld the order of the trial court and said the entire evidence showed that the driver was driving the truck in rash and negligent manner and hit the victim’s motorcycle and then ran over him.

According to the prosecution, on the night of September 18, 2012 victim Hari Shankar and his brother were going home on separate motorcycles and when they were near Badarpur, a rashly driven truck hit Shankar due to which he fell down.

Before his brother could pick him up, the front wheel of the truck ran over the victim’s head, killing him on the spot, it said.

( Source – PTI )