'How Can Drunken-Driving Accused Go Scot-Free?' Supreme Court Questions UP Law Abating Trials Pending For MV Act Violations Till 2021

While questioning the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Act, 2023, the Supreme Court recently expressed concern about how the state government could terminate in one go trials pending for Motor Vehicles Act violations for 2 or more years then.

Expressing concern at the UP Amendment Act, as per which the MV Act cases pending as on 31.12.2021 would stand abated, the Court  said :

"In a country like India, traffic is a big problem...Citizens are not so disciplined insofar as abiding by the traffic Rules and Regulations is concerned...there has to be some deterrence so that a check remains on people indulging in offences relating to Motor Vehicles Act, more particularly, the youngsters. The consequences, in this regard, would be extremely grave. This is an age of highly powerful cars, and it is a matter of common experience how accidents are being caused because the drivers are unable to control these powerful cars." 

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan was dealing with intervention applications filed by Advocate Kishan Chand Jain in the 2012 PIL of Dr. S Rajaseekaran (Chairman and Head of Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore) relating to road accident deaths.

It underlined the importance of having a deterrence effect for MV Act offenses, such as drunken-driving, and wondered if pendency of cases can be a justification for allowing such violators to go scot-free.

After hearing the parties, it asked the Secretary, Legal Department and Secretary, Transport Department of the State of Uttar Pradesh to file an affidavit justifying section-wise abatement of the proceedings. 

During the hearing, the bench noted that some of the criminal offenses for which trials stood terminated in view of UP's 2023 amendment Act were non-compoundable (for e.g., Section 185 of MV Act).

Being of the view that the effect of abatement of trials for the offences punishable under the MV Act as of 31.12.2021 would be drastic, the Court expressed,

"Section 185 makes driving by a drunken person or by a person under the influence of drugs an offense. It is a non-compoundable offense. If it is a non-compoundable offense, we wonder how could the State bring around an amendment and in one go tell the Court concerned that the proceedings have stood abated? This means that the person who was booked for the offense of driving in a drunken position goes scot-free. It is possible that such case maybe pending for past 5 years, however, would that by itself justify abatement of the proceedings? Abatement of proceedings in one shot would take away the sting of deterrence insofar as such offences are concerned."

Though Advocate Ruchira Goel, for State of UP, argued that in case of mixed offenses (where suppose an IPC charge is combined with the MV Act charge), the amendment would not be applicable and therefore proceedings would not stand abated, the bench was not particularly convinced. "This illustration is hardly a justification to support such amendment Act. It would be too much to say that Section 185 proceedings would be dropped and the concerned person would be prosecuted for Section 279 of Section 304A, as the case may be. It's debatable that if you drop any offense under the MV Act, what would be the legal implications on the prosecution of a person insofar as IPC offense is concerned", noted the bench.

Notably, the bench also remarked that the Amendment Act should not be in the form of a "step to eradicate the arrears of pending cases in different courts" of the State of UP.

Appearance: Advocate Kishan Chand Jain; ASG Vikramjit Bannerjee, AAG Rajat Bhardwaj, Advocate Ruchira Goel; Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal (Amicus Curiae)

Case Title: S.RAJASEEKARAN Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 295/2012

Click here to read the order