BENGALURU: A city civil and sessions court sentenced a man to seven-year rigorous imprisonment for trying to snatch a mobile phone from a cab driver at midnight near Kalasipalya police station and then injuring him with a knife. Judge Rashmi M, LXVII Additional City Civil and Sessions Court, sentenced Armugam M (35), a resident of Cottonpet, for the offence punishable under Section 312 of BNS.
At 12.50 am on October 26, 2024, the cab driver, V Suman, picked up a passenger from the Kempegowda International Airport and stopped his taxi in front of a hotel on Kalasipalya Main Road around 1.50 am as the passenger, Venkatesh, did not know the correct address. The passenger called his friend and gave the phone to Suman to get the address.
As Suman was talking over the phone with the right front window open, Armugam came all of a sudden near the car and tried to snatch the phone. When Suman held on to it tightly, Armugam slashed his right hand and right shoulder with a knife, causing grievous bleeding injuries. The Kalasipalya police later filed a chargesheet against Armugam.
The court noted that the absence of a testimony by independent eyewitnesses is not a ground to disregard the evidence of the injured. Also, in the early morning hours, one cannot expect a natural, independent public eyewitness to be present on a main road, the court added.
It stated that the passenger, who was in the car when the incident occurred, left immediately after in another vehicle. It can be safely said the passenger did not want to get involved in any legal battle.
Even after a non-bailable warrant and proclamation were issued against him, the passenger, the sole eyewitness, could not be brought as a witness. But that by itself does not remove the authenticity of the evidence of the injured, it observed.
The court also noted that one cannot expect witnesses to give parrot-like evidence, a mere slip of the tongue mentioning the time. Also, not securing CCTV footage is not fatal to the case, as CCTV footage was used to trace the accused and the injured himself identified the accused during the identification parade and in court.
The court referred the case to the District Legal Services Authority to grant a compensation to the victim under Section 396 of BNS.