JUDGMENT :

Narasimham, C.J. - This is an appeal by the State of Orissa against the judgment of the Sub-divisional Magistrate of Koraput, acquitting the Respondent who was tried in his Court for offences under Sections 304-A and 279 Indian Penal Code.

2. The Respondent was the driver of a motor truck No. O.R.H. 10 plying in Koraput district. On the 21st March 1960 at about 9 a.m. the truck left Koraput for Jeypore fully loaded. Soon after crossing the outskirts of Koraput town when it entered the that for going down to Jeypore, there was a sudden bursting of the tyre of the right front wheel. The Respondent was unable to control the steering of the vehicle in view of the downward slope of the road, and after some desperate efforts on his part the vehicle swerved to the extreme right and fell into a drain on the right side of the road. The vehicle was damaged and one side and two of its wheels were in the air. In consequence of this accident many of the occupants of the truck sustained severe injuries and one of them, an old woman named Jayamma, died subsequently due to the tearing of the big vessels of the neck and the fracture of the cranium. The cleaner of the truck Appalaswamy (P.W