A person committing offences under the Motor Vehicles Act like overspeeding & rash driving can also be booked under the Indian Penal Code as both the statutes "operate with full vigour, in their own independent spheres", the Top Court has said.
"With rapidly increasing motorisation, India is facing an increasing burden of road traffic injuries & fatalities", it said.
A bench of Justices Indu Malhotra & Sanjiv Khanna set aside an order of the Gauhati HC of Dec 22, 2008, which held that a person booked for over speeding, dangerously driving & other related offences under the Motor Vehicles Act cann't be prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code.
"In our considered view the position of law is well-settled. This Court has consistently held that the Motor Vehicles Act,1988 is a complete code in itself in so far as motor vehicles are concerned," the bench said in a recent judgement.
"However, there is no bar under the Motor Vehicles Act or otherwise, to try & prosecute offences under the Indian Penal Code for an offence relating to motor vehicle accidents. On this ground as well, the impugned judgment is liable to be set aside," it said.
The Supreme court said the ingredients of offences under the both statutes are different & an offender can be tried & punished independently under both of them.
"The principle that the special law should prevail over the general law, has no application in cases of prosecution of offenders in road accidents under the Indian Penal Code & Motor Vehicles Act," it said.
Justice Malhotra, who penned the verdict for the bench, said, "In our view there is no conflict between the provisions of the Indian Penal Code & the Motor Vehicles Act. Both the statutes operate in entirely different spheres. The offences provided under both the statutes are separate & distinct from each other. The penal consequences provided under both the statutes are also independent & distinct from each other".
Dealing with the offences, the bench said there are no provisions under the Motor Vehicles Act which separately deal with offences causing death, or grievous hurt, or hurt by a motor vehicle in cases of motor vehicle accidents.
"Chapter XIII of the Motor Vehicles Act is silent about the act of rash & negligent driving resulting in death, or hurt, or grievous hurt, to persons nor does it prescribe any separate punishment for the same; whereas Sections 279, 304 Part II, 304A, 337 & 338 of the Indian Penal Code have been specifically framed to deal with such offences," it said.
Offences under Chapter XIII of the Motor Vehicles Act are compoundable in nature whereas offences under Section 279, 304 Part II & 304A Indian Penal Code aren't, it added.
"If the Indian Penal Code gives way to the Motor Vehicles Act, & the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) succumb to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act as held by the HC, then even cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing death, or grievous hurt, or simple hurt by rash & negligent driving, would become compoundable. Such an interpretation would have the consequence of letting an offender get away with a fine by pleading guilty, without having to face any prosecution for the offence committed," the bench said.
The principle of proportionality between the crime & punishment has to be borne in mind & the principle of just punishment is the bedrock of sentencing in respect of a criminal offence, it said.
"This Court has time & again emphasised on the need to strictly punish offenders responsible for causing motor vehicle accidents. With rapidly increasing motorisation, India is facing an increasing burden of road traffic injuries & fatalities. The financial loss, emotional & social trauma caused to a family on losing a bread winner, or any other member of the family, or incapacitation of the victim cannot be quantified", it said.
The bench said it is well settled that an act or an omission can constitute an offence under the Indian Penal Code & at the same time, be an offence under any other law.
"The finding of the HC that the prosecution of offenders under two statutes i.e. the Motor Vehicles Act & the Indian Penal Code, is unsustainable & contrary to law, is therefore, set aside," it said.
The Supreme court said the maximum imprisonment for a 1st time offence under Chapter XIII of the Motor Vehicles Act, is up to only 6 months, whereas the maximum imprisonment for a 1st time offence under the Indian Penal Code in relation to road traffic offences can go up to 10 years under Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code.
"The sentence imposed by courts should be commensurate with the seriousness of the offence, & should have a deterring effect on wrongdoers. The punishment of offenders of motor vehicle accidents under the Indian Penal Code is stricter & proportionate to the offence committed, as compared with the Motor Vehicles Act," it said, adding that even assuming that some of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act & Indian Penal Code are overlapping, it cannot be said that the offences under both the statutes are incompatible.
The Supreme court also set aside the direction of the Gauhati HC, which has asked Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram & Arunachal Pradesh to issue appropriate instructions to their subordinate officers to prosecute offenders in motor vehicle accidents only under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 & not the Indian Penal Code.
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