Close to the heels of the Porsche accident in Chennai last week which killed one auto-driver, a dialogue on drunk driving has begun, again. But the Chennai police have something new to offer, they say that according to the law, the driver as well as the passenger can be booked under the same charges. The passenger could be booked with an extra charge- Section 109 for abetting a crime, according to The Times of India.
The Chennai Traffic Police states that the understanding here is that the passenger is abetting the crime even though he is not directly committing the crime.
In the recent Porsche accident case, both Charan Kumar and Vikash Anand have been charged with culpable homicide, not amounting to murder. Advocate V Kannadasan told TOI that the car was owned by Charan Kumar and he knew that his friend was driving in an inebriated state which could lead to accidents.
Charan Kumar, in his bail plea submitted says that, he "is innocent of the alleged offence and he had not driven the car.”
He also stated, “The car was driven by Vikash Anand and he (Charan) was only the co-passenger.”
Lawyers feel that the passengers should not be charged in such cases, they should be sent off with a warning.
In February, there was another case in which both the driver and the passenger were charged for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. In that case, the car had rammed into a two-wheeler, according to TOI.