ORDER :

The facts of this case lie within a narrow compass. On 05.11.2011, petitioner Nos.1 to 7 (accused Nos.1 to 5, 7 and 8) and accused No.6 namely the teachers of Mother Therasa School, M.E.S. Road, Jalahalli village, Bengaluru, had taken the children studying in 3rd, 4th and 5th standard for a school picnic to Residency Holiday Resort, Near Anandanagara, Nelamangala Taluk, Bengaluru. The son of the complainant who was then studying in 3rd standard, got drowned in the swimming pool. Hence, he lodged a complaint against the School Owner, Management and Head Master of the said school as well as the Owner and Manager of Residency Holiday Resort.

2. The Nelamangala Rural Police registered a case against five accused in Crime No.417/2011 under section 304A read with section 34 of Indian Penal Code. After investigation, charge-sheet came to be laid against 11 accused persons namely accused Nos.1 to 8 namely, teachers of the said school and accused No.9, the Secretary of the said school on the ground that accused Nos.1 to 9 had arranged the school picnic and had taken the deceased to Residency Holiday Resort and allowed the deceased to get into the pool. Accused No.10 was an employee in charge of the swimming pool at the relevant time and accused No.11 was the Manager of the Residency Holiday Resort at the relevant time.

3. Petitioners namely accused Nos.1 to 5, 7 to 9 have invoked the jurisdiction of this court under section 482 of Cr.P.C., seeking to quash the charge-sheet laid against them for the above offences on the ground that the petitioners have not committed the alleged offence. There was no mens rea on the part of the petitioners to commit the offence and it was an accident and a simple case of negligence on the part of the occupiers of the swimming pool for which the petitioners cannot be held responsible. The deceased Thejas was alone in the swimming pool while he met with an accident and died. The authorities of the Mother Therasa School have paid a compensation of Rs.7,05,000/- to the complainant/respondent No.1 and the said amount was deposited in Lakshmi Vilas Bank for a maturity value of Rs.17,16,808.21 paise. Considering this fact, the I Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Seshadripuram, Bengaluru, has dismissed the petition filed by respondent No.1 seeking additional compensation. Contending that the petitioners have not committed any offence under section 304A read with section 34 of Indian Penal Code, the petitioners have sought to quash the said proceedings.

4. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners, learned counsel for respondent No.1 and learned SPP-II for respondent No.2.

5. As the petitioners are sought to be prosecuted for the offence under section 304A read with section 34 of Indian Penal Code, it may be expedient to refer to said section which reads thus:

“304A. Causing death by negligence.- Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash and negligent act not amount to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”

6(i). The main contention of the petitioners is that, they were not present during the occurrence. The deceased was found dead in the swimming pool which was managed by accused Nos.10 and 11 who were the occupiers of the Resort wherein the alleged accident had taken place. Mere fact that the petitioners had taken the deceased to the Resort would not render them responsible for the accident which had taken place in the swimming pool managed by accused Nos.10 and 11. What section 304A of Indian Penal Code requires is causing of death by doing any rash or negligent act and this means that the death must be direct or proximate result of the rash and negligent act of the petitioners. In other words, it is the case of the petitioners that there must be proof that the rash and negligent act of the accused was the proximate cause of death. It is the submission of the le