ORDER :

The consequences of reckless driving are manifold. Instances of minors taking the wheel without possessing a license to drive have been on the increase, leading to numerous accidents. Repercussions of such acts include injuries and fatalities not only to the drivers but also to the innocents on the road. With a near immunity against prosecution of a minor, the tendency to indulge in such acts unabashedly has seen a rise, with the owners of motor vehicles not taking due precautions to prevent such acts. The legislature finally stepped in with a provision for parental or owner accountability. Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for brevity, ‘the MV Act’) was incorporated in 2019, creating a fiction of guilt on the guardian of the juvenile or the owner of the motor vehicle. Creating criminal liability on the guardian or the owner of a motor vehicle is seminal and has contemporary social relevance.

2. All these petitions are preferred under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, ( for short ‘the Cr.P.C’), challenging either the first information report or the final report filed against the guardian of the juvenile or the owner of the motor vehicle for hav