Section 125 BNS: Hyderabad Police SI Booked After Allowing 6-Year-Old Granddaughter to Drive Car
Hyderabad Police booked one of its own sub-inspectors after a viral video allegedly showed his six-year-old granddaughter driving a car on a public road.
Hyderabad SI Pujari Thirupathi faces case after allowing minor granddaughter drive car on public road.
A Hyderabad Police sub-inspector has been booked after allegedly allowing his six-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter to drive a car on a busy public road on the outskirts of the city. A video of the incident has sparked outrage on social media.
Acting on the incident, the police registered a case against the officer under Section 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)earlier Section 336 of the IPC], which penalises rash or negligent acts that endanger human life or the personal safety of others.
Section 125 of the BNS provides that whoever does any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months or with fine which may extend to two thousand five hundred rupees, or with both, with conditions.
Relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 have also been invoked. The Act prohibits permitting a person without a valid driving licence, including a minor, to drive a motor vehicle on a public road and places liability on the person in charge of the vehicle.
The case relates to an incident that allegedly occurred on July 11 on the outskirts of Hyderabad. According to the media reports, the officer, identified as Pujari Thirupathi, had allowed his granddaughter to take the driver's seat of his Maruti Swift while he travelled alongside her in the front passenger seat.
The matter came to light after a video of the drive surfaced online and quickly gained traction on social media. The footage purportedly shows the child steering the vehicle as it moves along a road used by other traffic. At one point, local residents are seen stopping the car and questioning the officer over allowing the minor to drive.
The Hyderabad incident echoes the widely reported 2024 Pune Porsche crash, where a 17-year-old allegedly driving his father's luxury car while under the influence of alcohol fatally knocked down two software engineers. The case triggered nationwide outrage, not only because of the fatal crash but also over allegations that the teenager's father had enabled the minor to drive and later conspired to tamper with evidence.
On May 19, 2024, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) granted the 17-year-old bail with conditions that included writing a 300-word essay on road safety.
In March this year, while granting bail to the accused's father after nearly 22 months in custody, the Supreme Court observed that the prosecution had already completed its investigation and that the trial was unlikely to conclude soon.