STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has granted bail to Rajkanya Baruah in the hit-and-run incident of October 1, 2021. Rajkanya Baruah was returning from an event last night on October 1 in an inebriated condition when she hit eight labourers at Rukminigaon in the city with her car.
The court order stated that on on October 2, 2021, SI Sahir Ali lodged an FIR that on October 1, at about 1.50 AM, he came to know that an accident had occurred at GS Road, Rukminigaon, where a white colour vehicle bearing registration No. AS 01 AG 2194 driven in an excessive speed, hit one Tata Magic, bearing registration no. AS 25 DC 1534, which was engaged in connection with road construction work and, thereafter, hit against an electric pole as well as sign boards near the road. Consequently, eight workers sustained serious injuries. Three injured persons were immediately shifted to GMCH for treatment.
The FIR mentioned that the accused Rajkanya Baruah misbehaved with the people who were present at the place of occurrence. Rajkanya has been detained in judicial custody for 62 days in connection with the case, where charge sheet has been filed and the Additional Sessions Judge No. 2, Kamrup (M) has framed charges under sections 279/338/294/304/353/ 427 of the IPC "inspite of the evidence that the ingredients of the offence under Section 304 of the IPC are absent and the alleged incident was in fact a vehicular accident on public road".
The court order further stated, "It may be pointed out that in order to decide whether the act of the accused petitioner was done with intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death of the worker or whether it was homicidal not amounting to murder, the state of mind of her at the relevant time is dependent on the evidence to be rendered by the witnesses in due course of trial of the case. This Court sees no possibility of the accused petitioner, who is a lady, influencing any of the listed witnesses or jumping the course of trial of the case. Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that if the liberty of bail is granted to the accused petitioner, the trial of the case is unlikely to be hampered."
The court ordered Rajkanya Baruah to be released on bail of Rs. 50,000 with one surety of like amount to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Kamrup (metro).
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