Audi-Tavera mishap: 2accused discharged

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28

The Court of Rajeev Goyal, Additional Session Judge discharged two accused – Prabhjit Zira and Harsimranjit Singh – in the eight-year-old infamous Audi-Tavera accident case.

Two students and a driver were killed following a head-on collision allegedly between the Audi and Tavera in July 2013. The accident took place when four students from Ghaziabad were heading back home in a Tavera from Dharampur in Himachal Pradesh. They had to take a bus from the Sector 17 bus stand when their Tavera allegedly collided with the Audi on the road separating Sector 17 and 18.

Tavera driver Hast Bahadur, along with two students – Sahil Juneja and Kuldeep Singh – sitting on the rear seat, died on the spot. Sahil was pursuing BBA, while Kuldeep was an engineering student. Two other students sitting on the left rear seat suffered injuries in the mishap.

The two discharged persons faced offences under Sections 279, 357, 338, 20 and 304 (Part 2) and 212 of the IPC in an FIR registered at the Sector 17 police station, Chandigarh.

The prosecution alleged that they had helped other accused at the time of the incident. On the other hand, defence counsel Terminder Singh argued that both accused – Prabhjit Zira and Harsimranjit Singh – had been falsely implicated and there was no evidence against them. The alleged call record does not prove anything against the accused and it was not part of the record. The accused faced the prosecution without any evidence for so many years. After hearing the arguments and on the basis of record, the court discharged the two accused.

Meanwhile, the court has ordered to frame charges against three other accused – Rajat Kapoor, Trivikaram Singh Toor and Gurpreet Singh – under Sections 279 , 357, 338, 20, 304 (Part 2) and 201 of the IPC. The court has fixed March 10 as the next date of hearing for prosecution evidence.

As per the prosecution, Panchkula resident Rajat Kapoor was allegedly driving the Audi, while Trivikram Singh Toor and Gurpreet Singh were accompanying him. It was alleged that Harsimranjit Singh and Prabhjit Singh helped the three accused escape in a separate car. Some senior police officers also faced disciplinary action, including suspension, for the shoddy investigation in the case.