FIR against father of minor accused in hit-and-run

Mumbai: Bandra resident Allaudin Showkat Shaikh will always regret having allowed his 14-year-old son to drive his bike without a licence. His son (name withheld to protect identity) ended up mowing down 83-year-old Motiram Jhangiani that fateful day in January 2009.
Actor Aamir Khan, who witnessed the accident, had helped take Motiram to Bhabha Hospital. The Bombay high court, hearing a petition filed by Motiram’s son Vinod, on Wednesday directed the registration of a fresh First Information Report (FIR) against Allaudin.

A division bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and P D Kode directed an officer, not below the rank of deputy commissioner of police (DCP), to register an FIR against Allaudin under sections 304 A (causing death due to negligence), section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and section 279 (rash driving) of IPC.
“It seems that police havenot done proper investigation against the father (Allaudin), nor have you registered any offence against the father,” remarked the judges.
The court came down heavily on the prosecution for not conducting a proper investigation against Allaudin, despite the fact that he was the one who allowed his minor son to drive his bike without a licence, causing an elderly person’s death. Vinod moved the HC in August this year, seeking directives against Khar police, which arrested the boy and prosecuted him for causing death due to negligence (section 304(A)-IPC) and driving without a licence, but did not prosecute his father. “The father was fully aware that his son was allegedly a minor and an unlicensed rider. In spite of this the father has not been made an accused,” argued the petitioner’s lawyer, Peter Lobo. The high court agreed.