Quick Summary
- A BMW driver was discharged by the Delhi Court for a case filed against him in June 2019, under Sec 429 IPC for killing a stray dog in a road accident.
- The case was filed in 2019 at Mayur Vihar Police Station by a woman who had witnessed the BMW driver killing a stray dog at the Mayur Vihar red light.
- She also alleged that the car ran over the dog twice. She further added that the driver went swiftly past her despite her efforts to stop him.
- She then filed an FIR under Section 428/429 of IPC. The charge was framed by a metropolitan magistrate in March 2022.
- Justice Deepali Sharma, Additional Sessions Judge held on 19 November, 2022 observed that for Sec 429 IPC to apply, the element of commission of mischief must be present.
- It is mandatory to prove that the accused had the intention or requisite knowledge to cause such damage or wrongful loss to the public.
- From a plain reading of the FIR, it could be said that the accused driver was driving his car and had accidentally hit the dog, which resulted in the dog dying.
- The court said that the FIR has no mention of the deliberate intention of the driver to hit the dog.
- Though the accused was driving the car at a high speed, this alone cannot be attributed to say that he hit the dog to commit mischief under Section 429 IPC.
- The court in light of the facts, held that the accused is to be discharged of the offence charged against him under Section 429 IPC.
- The court delivered its decision based on a revision petition filed by Puneet against the trial court order to charge the accused under Section 429 IPC.
- In the revision petition, the counsel of the accused contended before the Sessions Court that Section 429 shall not apply to street dogs, and neither was there any presence of a deliberate intention to kill the dog and hence does not constitute mischief.
- A stray dog does not fall within the ambit of animals mentioned in the section and hence was not a property that could be subjected to an offence under Section 429 IPC.
- The Additional Public Prosecutor had argued that the trial court had rightly convicted the accused as he had killed a dog, driving at high speed.
- The impugned order convicting the accused was set aside.
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