Case of negligent driving quashed as GPS shows vehicle speed was 26 kmph

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The High Court of Kar nataka quashed a case of rash and negligent driving and endangering human life against a 36-year-old from Mumbai after the GPS reading of the vehicle found that its speed was only 26 kilometres per hour.

The case against Sunil Kumar Yadava was pending before the Civil Judge and JMFC, Kushalnagar, Kodagu following a crime registered by the Kushalnagar traffic police in 2022.

The allegation against him was that on January 11, 2022, while returning from Nagarahole forest, he caused an accident with another vehicle due to which Mohammed Shareef CH, a resident of Kodagu was injured.

Yadav approached the High Court with a petition to quash the case, which was heard by Justice Hemant Chandangoudar.

It was submitted to the court that in fact it was Yadav’s wife who had filed the first complaint against Shareef and another person for causing the accident.

When questioned about the accident, Shareef and the other person were accused of abusing and assaulting the couple. In that case, Shareef and the other person were found guilty and the Magistrate imposed a fine of Rs.500 each on them under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and Section 341 (wrongful restraint).

As a counterblast to the complaint filed by Yadav’s wife, Shareef had filed the complaint against Yadav. But it was the GPS installed in the vehicle that came to the rescue of Yadav.

The HC noted that, “The petitioner has produced GPS installed in the subject vehicle, which was alleged to have been driven rash and negligently and the GPS record discloses that the vehicle was driven at the speed of 26 kms per hour. The said document has not been controverted or disputed by the respondent No.2 (Shereef). Therefore, it is inferred that the vehicle was not driven in a rash and negligent manner.”

Further, the HC noted that Shareef had not sustained any injuries in the incident as claimed.

“No injury is said to have been sustained due to rash and negligent driving by the petitioner herein. The FIR was lodged as a counter blast to falsely implicate the Petitioner. Therefore, the continuation of criminal proceedings will be an abuse of the process of law,” the HC said quashing the case against Yadav. (CrlP 1654/2023)