Face trial or plead guilty in ipc 338 accident case
Querist :
Anonymous
(Querist) 07 April 2022
This query is : Resolved
A person was accidentally hit by my car and got grievous injuries and police registered IPC 338 on me. I tried to settle but the injured is not ready to settle the case.
Now i got summons from court to appear.
I heard that if I plead guilty and pay fine then the case is closed and i can move on with my life.
1. Is this true?
2. If i plead guilty, are there any chances, i will go to jail immediately?
3. If i plead guilty, will i get passport and visa for higher education?
4. If i go for trial, if i got convicted at the end what will happen?
Should i plead guilty or consult a lawyer to face the trail ? Please help me so that I can decide what next has to be done and plan accordingly
Dr J C Vashista
(Expert) 08 April 2022
Q 1. Not applicable in every case.
Q 2 Generally not taken into custody, however, in the instant case the injury inflicted on the victim is grievous / dangerous which would be considered at the time of passing orders on sentence.
Q 3. In normal circumstances it (passport/ visa) is not directed to be deposited with Court / police.
Q 4. Nothing can be presumed at this stage.
Consult and engage a local prudent lawyer for defending your case.
K Rajasekharan
(Expert) 08 April 2022
It is true that in an IPC 338 case the court has the authority to impose imprisonment or fine or both. Arrest is not needed in such cases if you don’t fail to appear before the court when needed.
But when the offender is not reckless and the offence occurred due to mere negligence, the normal course of action a court follows is to reduce the punishment into fine, or just imprisonment for a day with fine.
In this case, what you say is that the hurt was an accidental one and you are ready to plead guilty. So, there is enough chance that it would end up in fine alone.
But it is definitely better for you to appear before the court through a pleader, even if you are pleading guilty, so that you will not get into unnecessary trouble due to failure of following the procedures out of your ignorance.
Above all, pleading guilty is the better option in such accidentally occurred cases in which there is no criminal intention.
P. Venu
(Expert) 09 April 2022
It is the prevailing practice in Kerala that the accused can plead guilty in such cases and the case is disposed of with fine as a matter of routine with out going into the intricacies of the charge report . The accused need not be present and pleading could be through the advocate. Such pleading guilty is of no adverse consequence.
Ascertain whether such practices is prevalent in the court. If so, you can plead guilty and get the closed.
