May 2020 Marine Drive crash: Court drops culpable homicide charge against 19-year-old
Mumbai court drops culpable homicide charges against 19-year-old Shourya Jain for a fatal crash, now facing lighter negligence charges instead
MUMBAI: The Mumbai Sessions Court has dropped the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder levelled against a 19-year-old who crashed his father’s car into a stationary bus on Marine Drive, while driving without licence and causing death of his 18-year-old friend travelling with him. The accused will now be tried in a metropolitan magistrate’s court for causing death by negligence, a much lighter charge.

The accident took place on May 12, 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdown, at around 5.15 pm, when the accused, 19-year-old Shourya Jain crashed the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz he was driving into a stationary bus at B D Somani Chowk at Marine Drive. His friend, 18-year-old Aryaman Nagpal, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was seriously injured and died before he could get medical help. Jain, who sustained severe injuries to his ribs, was hospitalised for more than a week.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Shourya Jain under the Motor Vehicles Act and under Section 304A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by a negligent act endangering human life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police later invoked Section 304(II) of the IPC, booking him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder after it was found that he did not have a driving licence. As a result, they also registered his father, Sharad Jain, as a co-accused in the case.
Shourya Jain moved a discharge plea on the ground that he had no ‘knowledge’ or ‘intention’ to cause the death of his friend. His advocate, Hrishikesh Mundargi, submitted that he could not be charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder as he had no knowledge that such a fatal accident would occur, adding that the car’s collision with the bus was purely accidental.
“Applicant never intended to put life of his friend along with his own life in danger. Hence, the act of the applicant driving the car cannot be equated with the offence of culpable homicide,” Mundargi argued. He also relied on the statement of Shourya’s friends, submitting that the accused had no idea that the bus was there since it was parked on the road with no indicators. He added that Shourya too suffered multiple grievous injuries due to the incident.
Additional public prosecutor Ajit Chavan submitted that Section 304(II) had been invoked after it was found that Shourya did not have a driving licence. He argued that the accused drove the car despite the knowledge that he had no right to drive the car on a road without a licence, thus causing the death of an 18-year-old.
Advocate Anandini Fernandes, appearing for the family of the deceased, submitted that Shourya had full knowledge that driving a car at high speed without a valid licence could cause the death of the passenger.
Additional Sessions Judge S D Tawshikar accepted the argument that the accused was not aware of the bus parked on the road. However, observing that it was not a case of drunk driving, and considering the serious nature of the injuries suffered by the accused himself, the court said that “the incident can at the most be result of rash or negligent act of the applicant”.
The judge said, “There is absolutely no material to frame charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304(II) of IPC.” The court said it went against the principles of fair trial to stretch an accusation to an extent that would include grave offences despite there not being any prima facie evidence.
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