Guest column: Police going after riders for a pillion rider's death is rubbish'

Bengaluru roads have become deathtraps. We all run a real  risk of losing our lives or our loved ones due to the negligence of the BBMP, and BWSSB engineers, workers and contractors. It is a crime to put any member of the public in a life-threatening situation through such acts of omission. There is no requirement in law for such an act to be done with intention to cause death or injury. It is  enough if the person concerned is sane enough to know that his reckless act could endanger the life of a human being. When a BBMP or BWSSB engineer or contractor digs up a road and leaves it dangerously open for commuters, he invites such criminal liability.

If a motorist driving at the permitted speed or a pillion rider is caught unawares and loses his life by falling into a gaping hole or is fatally  hit  by another vehicle from behind while applying a sudden  brake to avoid it, those responsible  for digging up the road could be charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The conviction carries imprisonment for a period of up to 10 years.

It is necessary for all of us to come together to ensure that  government workers or contractors that have been criminally accused in the recent deaths of hapless commuters are prosecuted and jailed to the fullest extent. It would be absurd of the police to also make the rider an accused in such cases. The legal theory behind making both class of persons – the one who actually digs up the road and one who is trapped by a dug up road - is sheer rubbish, and self-contradictory. The rider in such cases is the victim and cannot be made  the accused.

So when we see  the police deliberately making the rider an accused in such cases, we should know that it is doing so with an intent to protect the BBMP or BWSSB. It is time for the Bengaluru police to behave with some humanity and not exploit the tragedy by targeting riders, who are  the victims of the criminal acts of the BBMP and BWSSB workers, engineers or contractors on our roads.

The writer is advocate, Supreme Court of India.