Stating that “road accidents are, often, the result of an error of judgement or mechanical failures and they can also occur on account of the fault of the other vehicle”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has modified the order of dismissal of a Punjab Roadways driver whose services were dispensed with after he was convicted in an accident case.
The petition was filed by Darshan Singh, who joined as a driver with the Punjab Roadways in 1997.
A bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal said, “This court while respectfully agreeing with the aforesaid view, modifies the order of dismissal of the petitioner from service and orders its conversion into an order of compulsory/pre-mature retirement from service with entitlement to retrial benefits with effect from the date of the dismissal order April 12, 2016.”
The services of the petitioner were dispensed with on account of his conviction in an FIR registered against him in 2008 for rash driving and causing death by negligence at Ropar. He was held guilty under Section 304-A of the IPC and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years with a fine of Rs 5,000. In the appeal, the judgment of the trial court was affirmed. Though in the revision petition the sentence of the petitioner was reduced to six months, on account of the petitioner’s conviction his services were dispensed with in accordance with Rule 13 (1) of the Punjab Civil Service (Punishment and Appeals) Rules, 1970.
The state counsel submitted that prior to the occurrence of the accident in question, the petitioner had been driving heavy duty vehicles with no such incident ever been reported in the past. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal as well as the Criminal Court had found that the petitioner was guilty of rash and negligent driving.
D K Singal, Additional Advocate General, Punjab, admitted that during the entire career of the petitioner as driver – which is stated to be more than 15 years – from June 23, 1997, to May 30, 2008, the petitioner was not involved in any other accident prior to the incident in question. Thus, the petitioner has an unblemished service record for a period of more than 15 years prior to May 30, 2008, which is the date of the alleged incident.
The bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal, after hearing the matter, said, “Road accidents are, often, the result of an error of judgement or mechanical failures. They can also occur on account of the fault of the other vehicle. In such cases, it would not be justified or rational to hold that the driver is guilty of an offence involving moral turpitude in the absence of mens rea, however, at the same time, the court is required to take into consideration the fact that the driver, if reinstated in service, will again drive heavy duty vehicles which can endanger public safety.”
While passing the order, the high court cited judgment of another bench of the HC in a similar matter, Jarnail Singh versus State of Punjab and others, wherein it has been held that in such cases, the order of dismissal is required to be modified and converted into the order of compulsory/pre-mature retirement from service with entitlement.