CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has set aside a Vellore district court order that convicted a loco pilot for a 2011 train accident in which 12 people died and 70 others were injured. The accident took place on September 13, 2011, when a train plying from Chennai beach to Vellore collided with a train plying from Arakkonam to Katpadi near Melpakkam. Rajkumar, local pilot of the beach train, was accused of negligence and a case was filed against him by the railway police under IPC, Railways Act and Tamil Nadu Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act.
The trial court in Vellore convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Rajkumar had moved a criminal appeal before the high court. According to police, Rajkumar was talking to his friend over phone while driving. The train was driven at a speed of 97 kmph against the limit of 75 kmph and Rajkumar had ignored signals at two major junctions, the charges said. Rajkumar’s counsel argued that the prosecution had relied merely on oral evidence of witnesses and there was no record to prove his negligence.
The Madras High Court bench chided the prosecution for failing to provide adequate evidence for the charges against Rajkumar and acquitted him. The court found discrepancies in the call records provided by the prosecution as major evidence. “The circumstances relied upon by the prosecution apart from not being conclusively established, do not suggest that the appellant had the knowledge that his act would cause the death of several passengers,” the judgment read.