Court Gives Vijit 5 Days To File Reply

Court Gives Vijit 5 Days To File Reply 3 Jan 2009, 0349 hrs IST, TNN JAIPUR: The session court on Friday granted hit-and-run case accused Vijit Singh five days' time to reply to the bail cancellation application filed by the police. Vijit, the step-grandson of Rajamata Gayatri Devi, was arrested after his car hit a group of students killing one in December. He was soon released on bail. The medical report has found that he was under the influence of alcohol. A girl student from Kota, Babita Chaudhary (20), was killed on the spot while four others sustained injuries. Vijit, a member of the Jaipur royal family, is also a director of the Rambagh Palace Hotel. Vijit was expected to appear before the court and file the reply on Friday. The counsel, appearing on his behalf, requested for some time to file the reply which was granted by the court. The case got highlighted as Vijit was booked under a less penal provision of Section 304A of the IPC but after the intervention of chief minister Ashok Gehlot the matter was re-investigated by the city police. After the second round of probe, the police came to the conclusion that the essential element of knowledge' was present in the whole chain of event as after hitting the students, Vijit did not stopped to help and also tried to win over one of the eye-witnesses. The charges against him were, therefore, converted to a more stringent provision of Section 304 part II of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The same provision was also applied against the accused of other infamous hit-and-run cases Salman Khan, Sanjeev Nanda and Alistair Pereira. The provision contained in Section 304-II amounts to a heinous crime against the society and has a prescribed maximum punishment for 10 years rigorous imprisonment whereas the maximum punishment under Section 304A was for 2 years only. The police then moved the session court for the cancellation of the bail under Section 439 (2) of Code of Criminal Procedure. The court issued a show-cause notice to Vijit. Pursuant to which Vijit's counsel appeared in the court on Friday and sought more time. It is noteworthy that in the other cases the BMW case and the Pereira case the punishment has been on the higher side under Section 304 II of the IPC. In case of Alistair Pereira a Mumbai-based businessman, who was earlier awarded a lenient' sentence of just six months in November 2006, was later punished to three years of rigorous imprisonment by the Bombay high court. Pereira's car mowed down 15 labourers sleeping on the pavement in Bandra, killing seven of them. The high court had then noted that there was no need to sympathize with Pereira. The court had then observed, "The record of the case exhibits the most callous attitude on the part of the accused. He acted in a most irresponsible manner, breached not only law but even social obligations and failed to take requisite precautions and drove the car in a rash and negligent manner." Following Pereira's case, the Delhi High Court in the BMW case has observed, "A drunken driver not only puts his life into risk but also puts the life of other people at stake. Such driver is not less that a live human bomb, which prepares to blast himself and other innocent people on roads." In this case a sting operation revealed that senior advocates tried to bribe the prosecution to win over the witnesses. While pronouncing the judgment, the court said, where there was a clear proof of offenders indulging in winning over witnesses, a new principle of sentencing had to be devised to award a higher quantum of punishment and awarded maximum punishment specified under the code which was 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Like Nanda's case, Vijit has also tried to win over eye witness Abhimanyu Swami who chased him after informing the police.

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