The Mumbai High Court recently in its judgement in the case of State of Maharashtra v Swapnil S Sakhalkar held that In case of rash , no criminal liability can be imposed on the driver of the vehicle if the pedestrian is caught negligent and contributes to the accident.
In this case ,The accused was held for rash driving in 2015. The complainant,Apeksha alleged that she was grievously injured when Swapnil rammed the car on her. She also submitted that the four Wheeler accident resulted in a fracture in her right leg and severely injured her toe.
The Court after hearing Shah’s testimony held that the complainant was walking on the road and failed to establish why she didn’t use the footpath. The court also questioned as to why her exact location during the time of the accident was inconclusive and why proper CCTV footage was not produced of the accident thereby resulting in acquitting the accused of the case due to inconclusive material evidence. The court also pointed out relevant evidence and timely incidence of facts need to be produced as the prosecution could not establish whether the driver was the woman or the owner of the car.
