Rajasthan High Court Denies Bail To Doctor Who Drove Car Inside Hospital Premises In Inebriated State

The Rajasthan High Court has rejected the bail application of a doctor, who is alleged to have caused an accident at the hospital premises by ramming into the public/patients standing there, resulting in on spot death of one person and miscarriage of a pregnant woman.

Justice Kuldeep Mathur said the incidents of speeding and drunk driving are increasing day by day and are the major contributing factors in the road accidents. While granting bails in such matter, the seriousness of the accusations has to be taken into consideration, said the court

"The cases of such nature just cannot be compared with the cases where a person causes death by rash or negligent driving,” said the court.

The court said the government doctor, saddled with the moral obligation of providing treatment to ailing patients, despite being aware of ill effects of drunken driving, in an inebriated state drove his car on a highly congested road inside the hospital, resulting in death of a person, a pregnant woman’s miscarriage and injuries to 4-5 other persons.

During the bail hearing, the counsel representing the accused argued that the doctor was falsely implicated in the case and that the offence under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was not applicable. It was contended that the incident occurred when the doctor, upon entering the hospital, lost control of the vehicle while going over a speed breaker. It was submitted that due to the rush and congestion near the hospital gate, the unfortunate collision took place with the people standing there.

The court was also told the doctor is now near the age of retirement, and since investigation in the matter has already been completed, challan has also already been filed and no recovery is due to be made from the appellant, no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping the appellant behind the bars. 

However, the prosecution vehemently opposed the bail application. It referred to a medical report from the Government Hospital in Nagaur that confirmed the doctor's consumption of alcohol. It was argued that the argument put forth that he lost control over the car due to rush and congestion near the hospital gate deserves to be rejected.

Addressing the argument regarding the rush and congestion near the hospital gate, the court said that it cannot be considered at this stage, as the matter is yet to be tried in a competent criminal court and the statement of the complainant has not been recorded.

"The application for bail is rejected. It is made clear that findings recorded and observations made above are for limited purposes of adjudication of the bail application. The trial court shall not get prejudiced by the same," the court said.

However, the court also gave a liberty to the doctor to file a fresh bail application after recording of the statement of complainant and the woman, who suffered miscarriage allegedly due to the accident. The trial court is directed to record their statements on priority, said the bench.

Case Title: Yogendra Singh vs,. State Of Rajasthan and Another S.B. Criminal Appeal No. 51/2023

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Raj) 60

Appearance:

For Appellant(s) : Mr.Rakesh Arora

For Respondent(s) : Mr. Laxman Solanki

For Complainant : Mr.S.K.Verma, Mr.Rahul Rajpurohit.

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