Holding Driver Guilty Of Offence Involving Moral Turpitude In Road Accidents Without Mens Rea Unjustified: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has modified the transport department's dismissal order of a driver convicted under Section 304-A IPC in a road accident case. The court converted the order to premature retirement from service, with entitlement to retrial benefits.

The bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal observed that, “Road accidents are, often, the result of an error of judgment or mechanical failures. They can also occur on account of the fault of the other vehicle. In such cases, it would not be justified or rational to hold that the driver is guilty of an offence involving moral turpitude in the absence of mens-rea, however, at the same time, the court is required to take into consideration the fact that the driver, if reinstated in service, will again drive heavy duty vehicles which can endanger public safety.”

The driver filed a writ petition to challenge the dismissal order issued by the Director of State Transport, Punjab in April 2016 under Punjab Civil Service (Punishment and Appeals) Rules, 1970.

The order was based on his conviction in a road accident case for causing death by negligence under Section 304-A IPC by a trial court. The conviction resulted in a sentence of six months imprisonment.

The petitioner had joined as driver with the Punjab Roadways in 1997 and the accident alleged in the FIR took place in 2008.

The counsel representing the State admitted that the petitioner had been driving heavy duty vehicles without any reported incident before the accident in question. However, both the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal and the Criminal Court found the petitioner guilty of rash and negligent driving in relation to the accident.

On the other hand counsel appointed by the Court submitted that the petitioner driver has completed more than 15 years of service as required for the application of the Punjab Civil Services (Premature Retirement) Rules, 1975 which were amended in the year 2014.

After hearing both the sides the Court said that it is admitted that during the entire career of the petitioner as driver, which is stated to be more than 15 years the petitioner was not involved in any other accident prior to the incident in question.

The Court referred to the High Court case in Rishi Dev vs. State of Haryana and others, wherein in a similar case it was held that the driver of a bus who has been held guilty of rash and negligent driving by the court, is not entitled to reinstatement.

The Court also referred to the High Court case of Jarnail Singh vs. State of Punjab and others wherein the Court harmonized the above conflict of interest and held that the order of dismissal is required to be modified and converted into the order of compulsory/premature retirement from service with entitlement to the retrial/pensionary benefits.

The Court agreed with the Jarnail Singh case and modified the petitioner's dismissal order from service.

The Court ordered it to be converted into an order of compulsory or premature retirement from service, with entitlement to retrial benefits with effect from the date of the dismissal order i.e April 12, 2016.

Case Title-Darshan Singh v. State of Punjab and others

Appearance- Mr.Birinder Singh Khehar, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. D.K.Singal, Addl.A.G., Punjab

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