Driver proves his innocence after seven-year legal battle

In a classic case of how failure to adhere to standard practices during investigation leads to innocents being punished, a driver from Kadur, unconnected to an accident, had to frequent Hubballi court for over seven years to prove that he was not the one who was wanted by the police.

In a classic case of how failure to adhere to standard practices during investigation leads to innocents being punished, a driver from Kadur, unconnected to an accident, had to frequent Hubballi court for over seven years to prove that he was not the one who was wanted by the police.

In a case where the alleged offender vanished after an initial appearance before the court, an allegedly forged driver’s licence (DL) book having his address put Jaykumar H.S., a driver from a village in Kadur taluk of Chikkamagaluru district, in trouble.

The case pertains to an accident on Hubballi-Dharwad Bypass Road that took place on June 1, 2010. The Hubballi North traffic police registered an FIR against the accused (truck driver) after the truck he was driving overturned, ultimately resulting in the death of the cleaner.

Based on the chargesheet, the court took cognisance of the offence under sections 279 (driving in a negligent manner endangering human life) and 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code). The accused appeared before the court and was released on bail on August 4, 2012. He appeared before the court on September 6, 2012 pleading not guilty and then went absconding.

In a twist, Mr. Jaykumar started getting summons as the accused in the case in 2017. He appeared before the court and contended that he was not the alleged offender. His plea for stopping proceedings against him was dismissed on March 23, 2019 and a subsequent appeal before the sessions court met with the same fate.

“We subsequently approached the Dharwad Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on behalf of the petitioner, which directed the trial court to ascertain the identity of the accused to find out whether he is the alleged offender,” said advocate Vishwanath Bichagatti, who provided free legal aid to Mr. Jayakumar and took up his case in 2017.

The petitioner claimed that his identity proof (DL) was tampered with by the alleged real offender. On the other hand, the investigating officer and the prosecution claimed that the accused himself was the alleged offender and was trying to mislead the court.