Let us tell you what has been officially stated in this new law and how different it is from the previous law.Observing the rising cases of road accidents, during a case hearing, the Supreme Court remarked that stringent action should be taken against those drivers who recklessly drive and flee the scene after causing an accident resulting in someone's death. Following this, the central government decided to add a new section in the new Indian Penal Code for this purpose.Firstly, understand what is written in the new Indian Penal Code regarding this matter? For this, in the new code, both Section 106 Sub-section One and Sub-section Two have been created. Under Section 106 Sub-section One, if someone causes a person's death due to reckless or negligent driving, which doesn't fall under the category of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, they will be punished with imprisonment up to five years and liable for a fine. Instead of this law, previously under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code, when a person died in a road accident, and the person responsible for the death was also included under Section 304 A, carrying a sentence from 2 to 7 years along with a liable fine.The government has added Section 106 Sub-section Two in the new code, which was not present in the previous Indian Penal Code. This section explicitly states that if a person, due to rash or negligent driving, causes someone's death not falling under culpable homicide but flees the scene without reporting to the police officer or magistrate immediately after the incident, they will be punished with imprisonment up to 10 years and liable for a fine. Nowhere in the new law is it explicitly mentioned that the driver will have to pay a penalty of 10 lakh rupees. The only difference between the new and old laws is in the punishment. If a person causes someone's death in a road accident and then flees but is later caught, they could face a sentence of up to 10 years and a possible fine. Nowhere is it stated that the fine amount will be 10 lakh rupees. If the offender's family approaches the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, it will be a separate case. The government clearly states that after the observations of the Supreme Court regarding increasing road accidents, this law has been made stricter.
