Supreme Court admonishes TNSTC driver convicted for causing death by negligence but sets aside jail term

The Supreme Court recently set aside a three-month prison sentence imposed on a driver working for the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) for causing death by negligence, although his conviction for the offence was upheld. [Elangovan vs State Rep by Inspector of Police].A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose, PV Sanjay Kumar and SVN Bhatti opined that it would be expedient to release him from with an admonition, rather than sentencing him to prison. .The order was passed after taking note of the fact that the driver had no criminal antecedents, nor was anything adverse reported about his character. "In our opinion, it would be expedient to release him instead of sentencing him to any punishment but with an admonition. In such circumstances, we sustain the order of conviction under Sections 337 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code 1860, but set aside the sentence by which he has been directed to undergo imprisonment for a period of three months. We admonish him, requiring him to be alert and careful in future in the discharge of his duties and even otherwise," the Court said. .The case can be traced to a road accident that took place in June 2008, which led to the death of the complainant's wife and baby, who were riding pillion.The Court has asked the driver to be more responsible in future, both on and off duty.Further, the driver was asked to pay a compensation amount of ₹3 lakhs to the family of the victims..The Court also clarified that the confirmation of the driver's conviction will not affect his services in the TNSTC."We are passing this order in exercise of jurisdiction of this Court under Sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958", the Court added..The Court was hearing an appeal filed by the convicted driver against a December 2021 Madras High Court ruling.The High Court had upheld his conviction in the case, but reduced the sentence from six months' simple imprisonment to three months jail time. This prison sentence has now been set aside by the top court, although the driver remains convicted for the offence. .Advocates P Soma Sundaram, Y Arunagiri, and Raghunatha Sethupathy B represented the driver, one Elangovan.Advocates Joseph Aristotle S, Shubhi Bhardwaj, and Vaidehi Rastogi appeared for the Tamil Nadu government..[Read order]