The Mumbai Sessions Court recently acquitted a taxi driver who was, in 2015, charged for deterring a traffic police officer from discharging duty. The taxi driver was driving on a No Entry lane near the Mumbai Central Railway Station when the traffic cop named Sejal Malvankar stopped him and asked him for his driving licence.
It was noted that the taxi driver who was stopped by traffic police rudely replied to the official and exclaimed "jo ukhadne ka hai, wo ukhadlo" (do what you can) and sped off from her sight.
Case registered by traffic cop after rude reply
Following this, the female cop registered a case against the man. He was charged for voluntarily causing hurt and using criminal force to deter a traffic police officer from discharging duty. The accused was traced on the basis of his driving licence and arrested.
Mumbai Sessions judge cleared the charges levied on the taxi driver
However, in a recent update in this regard, the Mumbai Sessions judge UM Padwad cleared the charges on the taxi driver. The judgement was quoted in a report by India Today, "Evidence has absolutely nothing to show that such act of the accused caused any obstruction to Malvankar while discharging her duties as a public servant, nor the same can be said to be sufficient to deter her from continuing with her duty.”
The judge pointed out that though the taxi driver was expected to comply with the traffic police and show the licence and documents of the vehicle, his denial to do so cannot be an offense under Section 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Furthermore, Malvankar was questioned on why no action was taken with respect to the traffic rule violation of the taxi driving driving on a wrong lane.
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