The 17-year-old boy who allegedly hit and killed IT consultant, Siddharth Sharma, with his father's Mercedes in the Civil Lines area of Delhi has been charged with culpable homicide because of his past record of negligent driving, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place on Monday when Sharma was trying to cross a road near Ludlow Castle School in Civil Lines and the speeding Mercedes hit him.
The car was being driven at a speed of at least 80 km per hour and Sharma was flung several feet into the air by the impact of the crash and landed around 15 metres away from where he stood.
The DCP (North), Madhur Verma, said that after examining CCTV footage, it was felt that the possibility that the accused juvenile offender knew that his rash driving could cause a death could not be ruled out.
"Further, during investigation it emerged that it was not the first offence of rash and negligent driving by this accused juvenile. In the past too he was found driving in a rash and negligent way, thereby causing a road accident with another vehicle," he said.
Last year, the minor was also challenged thrice — for over-speeding in April and June and improper parking in February.
"In view of these facts, the death of Siddharth Sharma is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and, hence, section 304 of the IPC has been added in the FIR," said Verma.
The last time Delhi Police booked someone under culpable homicide in such a matter was in the Sanjeev Nanda BMW case 17 years ago, a senior official said.
On January 10, 1999, six persons, including three policemen, were killed by a speeding BMW car allegedly driven by Nanda in the wee hours in south Delhi's Lodhi Colony area.
A similar stand was also taken by the Mumbai Police in the Salman Khan case.
The Delhi Police also arrested the juvenile's father on Friday, a businessman based in Old Delhi, who lives with his family in an apartment in Civil lines, under Sections 109/304 (abetment to culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.
"There has not been a single step taken by the father of the accused in prohibiting him from taking the vehicle. This is an act of criminal omission, thereby abetting the crime of the said juvenile," the official said.
Meanwhile, the investigating officer of the case was also changed after the victim Siddharth Sharma's sister met Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma on Friday and urged him to take strict action against the perpetrators.