CHENNAI: A goof-up by the Greater Chennai Traffic Police’s investigation team in handling blood and urine samples resulted in a biker, who ran over a young woman and her eight-month-old infant, receiving only a two-year prison sentence. The biker was originally charged with culpable homicide, which carries a 10-year sentence, but a city trial court convicted him of a lesser charge last week.
Around 3 am on October 9, 2022, Poonguzhali and her daughter were hit by Nihal Tiwari (26) in Anna Nagar. Tiwari was riding a high-end 390cc motorbike with Kiruthika Devi, the second accused in the case, on the pillion. The Anna Nagar Traffic Investigation Wing’s case argued that Tiwari was driving under the influence of alcohol.
Poonguzhali was killed instantly on impact. The infant later died despite receiving medical treatment.
Police conducted breathalyser tests and collected blood and urine samples from the accused. These indicated a high level of alcohol in his body. However, during the trial, Tiwari’s lawyers disputed the accuracy of the reports, alleging that the analysers were not properly maintained or calibrated. This cast doubt on the genuineness of the report.
Furthermore, the doctor from Kilpauk Medical College who collected Tiwari’s urine and blood samples admitted to not adding the preservative sodium fluoro silicate and potassium oxalate to the samples, as specified in the Tamil Nadu medico-legal manual. He also stated that the samples were collected in test tubes, but evidence showed they were in a sealed glass bottle. Adding to the discrepancies, the prosecution did not explain why the head constable who handed over the samples from the doctor to the forensic department was not examined.
Due to these inconsistencies, the prosecution failed to definitively prove that the accused had consumed alcohol exceeding 30 mg per 100 ml of blood. Consequently, Section 304(ii) of the IPC, pertaining to culpable homicide, remained unestablished, as argued by the accused’s counsel.
The judge ruled that the breathalyser report and lab reports were deemed suspicious. The argument that the accused had consumed alcohol exceeding 30 mg/100 ml of blood remained unproven, rendering Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act inapplicable.
This also led the court to conclude that the charge against the accused under Section 304(ii) for culpable homicide could not be sustained, as it could not be proven that he committed the act with the knowledge that it was likely to cause death. Therefore, while the duo faced charges under both Section 304(a) and the more serious 304(ii), they were ultimately convicted only under the former, resulting in a significantly reduced sentence.