The court concluded that to convict under Section 304AA, evidence must prove intoxication exceeding permissible limits; negligence alone, without the requisite level of intoxication, can result in conviction under the less severe Section 304A.

JUDGMENT :

RAKESH KAINTHLA, J.

1. The present appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 30.04.2024 passed by learned Sessions Judge (Forests), Shimla (learned Trial Court), vide which the appellant (accused before the learned Trial Court) was convicted of the commission of offences punishable under Sections 279 and 304AA of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and was sentenced as under:-

(Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience.)

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the police presented a challan for the commission of offences punishable under Section 279, 337, 338 and 304-AA of the IPC. It was asserted that information was received in the Police Station that a truck had fallen into a gorge. The information was reduced into writing and an entry (Ext.P1/PW12) was recorded in the Police Station. SI Kewal Singh (PW12) and Constable Anil (PW11) went to the spot in the official vehicle bearing registration No. HP07A-0726, which was being driven by HHG Vishal. SI Kewal Singh noticed that a vehicle bearing registration No. HP38B-7031 had fallen 200-250 feet below the road into a gorge, and the injured person was sitting in the ambulance after being rescued from the truck. The people told SI Kewal Singh that one person was lying dead at a distance of around 100 meters towards the Kufri side. SI Kewal Singh and other police officials went towards Kufri and found one dead person lying on the kachha portion of the road in a crushed condition. The injured in the ambulance disclosed his name as Dilbag Singh (accused) and the name of the deceased as Kundru alias Krishan. Dilbag Singh revealed that he was a conductor, and the deceased was the driver. SI Kewal Singh obtained the phone number of the owner. He contacted the owner, and the owner revealed that Dilbag Singh was the driver and Kundru @ Krishan was the conductor. The accident occurred due to the negligence of the accused. Rukka (Ext. P1/PW9) was prepared and was sent to the Police Station, where FIR (Ext.P2/PW9) was registered. Dilbag Singh was sent for medical examination to IGMC Shimla. The forensic team was called to the spot. Gayan Thakur specialist from SFSL Junga, and Dr Rahul Gupta Forensic Expert from IGMC Shimla, reached the spot. Anjana Chauhan and Shalinder (PW2) were also called to the spot. SI Kewal Singh inspected the dead body and prepared the inquest reports (Ext.P1/PW2 and Ext.P1/PW12). The dead body was turned, and blood was found, which was lifted with the help of a piece of gauge. The sample so collected was kept on paper, which was put in a plastic container. The blood-stained soil and stones were lifted from the spot, which were put in separate containers, the containers were put in separate cloth parcels, and each parcel was sealed with three seals of seal impression ‘H’. Seal impression (Ext.P1/PW3) was taken on a separate piece of cloth. Parcels were seized vide memo (Ext.P2/PW3). An application (Ext.P2/PW12) was filed for conducting the postmortem examination of the deceased. Dr Vinod Bhardwaj (PW17) conducted the postmortem examination of deceased Krishan @ Kundru. He found multiple injuries. He opined that the cause of death was gross lacerations of the brain secondary to blunt trauma consistent with crush injuries in a road traffic accident. He issued the report (Ext.P12/PW12). SI Kewal Singh investigated the matter. He prepared the site plan (Ext.P3/PW12), and seized the truck bearing registration No. HP38A-7031 and