A Delhi court has set aside a magisterial court’s order sentencing a man to one year in jail for rash driving and killing a pedestrian on the Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyway here.

Acquitting the convicted person, Additional Sessions Judge S K Gupta ruled, “The DND Road is a busy road which connects Delhi to Noida. The deceased was crossing the road. The DND flyover is a pedestrian-free zone.”

The victim was blamed for negligently crossing the busy flyway, a pedestrian-free zone. The acquitted man was driving a Scorpio car on the DND expressway at high speed in 2014 when he hit a pedestrian crossing the road after using a public toilet.

The judge observed, “The deceased himself was negligent while crossing the road. The criminality is not to be presumed merely on the basis of accident. There is high movement of the traffic on DND road. The deceased has crossed the road without taking care of the traffic on the road. In such circumstances, it is not possible to save the accident even if the vehicle is at low speed. The appellant (accused) cannot be said to be negligent.”

Refusing to go by the testimony of an eyewitness, the judge said, “The bald testimony” that the appellant was driving the Scorpio in a rash and negligent manner was not enough to prove the guilt of the driver.

Setting aside the magistrate’s order, the sessions court ruled, “There is no other evidence on record to show the manner in which appellant was driving the vehicle to prove rashness or negligence on his part. The prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond shadow of reasonable doubt. Trial court has not properly appreciated the evidence on record.”

The sessions court gave its verdict on an appeal filed by the convicted person against a magisterial court’s order of 24 April 2017, holding him guilty of the offences of rash driving and causing death by negligence under the IPC and sentencing him to one-year jail term.

Challenging the magistrate’s order, the Scorpio driver contended that the victim was reckless and died due to his own negligence while crossing the flyway.