A plea of guilty must be clear and unambiguous and the Magistrate must apply his mind cautiously before accepting it.

SHIV DAYAL SHRIVASTAVA, J.

( 1 ) THIS is a reference made by the Additional Sessions Judge, Morena, for enhancement of sentence.

( 2 ) THE respondent was produced before the Magistrate First Class Jora for being tried under Section 304a of the Indian Penal Code. The Magistrate examined the accused under Section 251a (5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure 011 8-11958. The accused in his statement denied the allegations made against him. On 11-1-1958 the Magistrate framed a charge which was read out to the accused. Therein is recorded his plea of guilty in these words. "jurm kiya hai. Mera Pahla apradh hai, chhama chahta hun". The Magistrate thereupon convicted the accused under Section 304a and sentenced him to a fine of Rs. 25/- only.

( 3 ) THE Additional Sessions Judge having found the sentence to be manifestly inadequate recommends that it should be enhanced to a fine of Rs. 100/ -.

( 4 ) I have heard the learned Deputy Government Advocate who supports the reference and Shri. J. P. Gupta, who not only opposes the reference but claims further that the accused should be retried.

( 5 ) THERE can be no doubt that in a case under Section 304a where a man is killed in consequence of rash or negligent act of an accused, a sentence of a fine of Rs. 25/- even though the accused pleads guilty, is palpably inadequate and does not meet the ends of justice. If a man is riding a bicycle and is crushed under a motor vehicle in circumstances which cause instantaneous death, there are only two possibilities : Either the victim himself is negligent or rash, while the driver is not at fault, or the driver is rash or negligent to a high degree. In the first case the accused is entitled to an acquittal. In the second, the accused is liable to an appropriate punishment.

( 6 ) IN the case in hand, however, it is first of all to be seen whether there was sufficient material on the record for the conviction of the accused.

( 7 ) SHRI J. P. Gupta has urged that the manner in which the plea of guilty was recorded in this casa was not sufficient to form the basis of a conviction and that this is a fit case for a retrial. In my opinion, this contention must be accepted. On going through the record I find that the accusation against the respondent as disclosed in the charge-sheet was that the accused was driving a motor bus (be ehtiyati wa laparwahi se) between Jora and Kelars when he struck against one Roshnlal with the result that the latter died instantaneously. The bus went on the Wrong side about 26 cubits off the road. The learned Magistrate in a long and unweildy question asked the accused what he had to say with regard to the? allegations brought against him. The answer was that he did not kill the deceased, that he was driving cautiously and carefully (savdhani wa noshyari se), that two cyclewalas were going on the wrong side, that he tried to avoid a collision, that one person successfully crossed but the other came under the bus, that he could not do anything and if he had gone further, the bus would have tumbled down and all the passengers numbering 30 or 35 would have been killed, that he reported this matter in the police station and that he was not at fault, nor was he negligent (mere koi galati wa laparwahi nahi hai ).

( 8 ) THREE days after this statement, that is, on 11-1-1958, the learned Magistrate heard the arguments of the parties and framed a charge on the basis of the documents filed before him under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the above statement of the accused. The charge was that the accused was driving rashly and negligently (laparwahi wa be ehtiyati) and he struck against Roshanlal causing his death and that the act of the accused did not amount to culpable homicide. At the foot of the charge the Magistrate recorded the plea of guilty in these words 'jurm Kiya hai mera pahla apradh hai chhama chahta hun'. On the same day the learned Magistrate pronounced his judgment in which the plea of guilty was accept

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