manish agrawal 24 September 2017

Who will decide punishment in road accident case

Hello Experts, My wife met an accident on 20th sep. She was crossing road on scooty when a biker ran into her. She has got thigh bone fracture and other injuries. Traffic police filed Hit & Run case and filed FIR under following laws: IPC 279 & 337; Indian Motor act: 134 and 187. Later I was able to trace the guy and he then surrendered. Now, I wanted to know, 1.who will be deciding on next course of action? As you mentioned 279 is cognizable, so can police just release him with 1500 fine or can I still get him trialed. 2. Do I need to run two different cases via CMM and MACT court or can CMM only work out on compensation part. 3. The identity of the person was known to some people and only on third day when I traced them out then they confessed. Is there any charges that are applicable against them? Thanks in advance for your help Regards Manish Agrawal

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Siddharth Srivastava (Advocate) 24 September 2017

After surrender case will be investigated and challan will be filed in court where proceeding will be continued against accused and if found guilty will accordingly be punished by court of magistrate. Case will be conducted by public prosecutor and you can assist him if he permits. You can also claim compensation in MACT simultaneously as both cases are different in nature and distinct. Consult a lawyer with all details.

manish agrawal 24 September 2017

Thanks Siddharth, will I be part if the hearings? I mean will I be getting summons for attending the case proceedings? Also, what about those who were involved in hiding the identity of the accused?

manish agrawal 25 September 2017

Any input will be much appreciated

Tushar Jha (Advisor) 05 October 2017

Criminal case against the driver of the vehicle will be prosecuted by the State through Police Department.

You need to file a separate case with Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) within the district where the accident occured. You can file a petition under Section 163-A read with Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for grant of compensation arising out of the accident before MACT within the district.
You only need to engage an advocate or lawyer for MACT case. As regards to criminal case, the State will prosecute the driver of the vehicle by engaging a Public Prosecutor (Sarkari Vakeel).

You may be called for examination (oral examination) by the CMM court, if required. That would be possible only if you are listed as a prosecution witness or summoned by the Court.

Punishment for criminal case will be decided by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate(CMM) after a full-fledged trial. The maximum jail sentence which can be handed to the driver of the vehicle in the section mentioned by you would be 2 years.

For monetary compensation, Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) will adjudicate the quantum of compensation to be awarded.