Srinagar court finds guardian guilty after minor caught driving

A court in Srinagar has sentenced a guardian (accused) to three years’ simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on him after a minor was found driving a vehicle in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act.

Special Mobile Magistrate (Traffic), Shabir Ahmad Malik, however, released the convicted guardian under Probation of Offenders Act after he pleaded guilty.

The Court also ordered cancellation of the vehicle registration for 12 months.

"Keeping in view the mentioned facts and circumstances and the statement of the accused person wherein he pleaded guilty, the accused person is accordingly convicted for the commission of offence under Section 199-A I propose to sentence the accused to three (3) years simple imprisonment and rupees 25,000/- as fine. Further the registration of vehicle bearing registration number JK04K-0673 shall be cancelled for a period of twelve months," the judge ordered.

The accused was directed to execute a bond of ₹2 lakh rupees for keeping peace and good behavior during the probation period of two years.

In case of violation of any conditions of the bond during the probation period, the accused shall receive the proposed sentence and bond amount of rupees ₹2 lakh shall be forfeited to the government, the Court clarified.

According to the court records, after the minor was found driving the motor vehicle, a challan was filed against the guardian, who was also the registered owner of the vehicle.

The prosecution relied upon Section 199A of the Motor Vehicle Act, which holds guardian or vehicle owners liable when offences are committed by juveniles using their vehicles.

During the court proceedings, the accused voluntarily pleaded guilty to the offence and chose not to contest the trial.

After examining the voluntariness of the plea and considering the nature of the offence, the Court proceeded to convict the accused without conducting a full trial.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Chasfeeda Shafi appeared for the UT.

Advocate Waseem Reshi appeared for the accused.

[Read Judgment]