Road accident: Court upholds man's jail term

New Delhi: Refusing to show leniency to a man guilty of injuring two persons by driving his car rashly, a Delhi court has upheld a one-month jail sentence handed down to him and observed that a person “who plays with fire cannot complain of burnt fingers”.

Additional sessions judge S.K. Gupta upheld a magisterial court order awarding one-month jail term to the man saying deterrent punishment is vital in road accident cases so that people plying vehicles bear in mind that they will face serious consequences.

The court made the observations while dismissing the appeal of convict Gurwinder Singh challenging his conviction and one month sentence. “One person has sustained grievous injury and (the) other has sustained simple injuries. The appellant (Singh) was driving the offending vehicle. The deterrent punishment is required in road accident cases so that persons who ply the vehicles on the road must bear in mind that they will have to face serious consequences including conviction and imprisonment.

“He cannot claim sympathy from court because a person who plays with fire cannot complain of burnt fingers. The leniency is not required in such like cases. A stern message has to be given to the society and to such offenders. He was driving commercial vehicle. To my mind, there is no ground to take a lenient view,” the judge said.