Supreme Court granted bail to the convict, Mr. Vismay Shah of famous BMW Hit and run case. The BMW hit and run case occurred on February 23, 2013, where two youth lost their lives in Vastrapur area. Earlier Mr. Vismay Shah was sentenced to five years imprisonment by an Ahmedabad court, in the Hit and run case.
While considering the application for bail, the Bench of Supreme Court consisting of Chief Justice H L Dattu took note of the fact that Mr. Vismay Shah was young and had already spent more than 13 months in jail. Further, the apex court directed the High Court to expeditiously hear Mr. Vismay Shah appeal against his conviction.
Mr. Vismay Shah in his appeal before the High Court, challenged the trial court’s recent judgment convicting him under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The Ahmedabad court had also ordered Vismay to pay Rs 5 lakh in compensation to each of the two affected families, and slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.
What is Section 304, Indian Penal Code (IPC)?
Section 304, Indian Penal Codes speaks about the Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. By virtue of Section 304, whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term, which may extend to ten years. Such person shall also be liable to fine;
- if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or
- of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or
- with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or
- with fine, or
- with both,
if the act is done with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death, or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.