KARACHI: A sessions court has ordered a truck driver to pay over Rs4.5 million by way of compensation to a man who lost his leg below the knee due to the rash driving of the convict.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (West) Aurangzeb found Muhammad Rashid guilty of the offences punishable under Section 334 (punishment of Itlaf-i-udw — dismembering, amputating, severing any limb or organ of the body of another person) read with Section 337-G (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent driving) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The court directed the convict to pay Arsh (compensation), amounting to over Rs3,378,951, to victim Muhammad Shahbaz as one half of the Diyat amount of Rs6,757,902 declared by the federal government for the financial year 2023-24.

The court also ruled that the convict will suffer simple imprisonment until the amount of Arsh was paid to the victim.

The court observed: “It is useful to mention here that injured Muhammad Shahbaz has not only suffered physical hurt as a result of an accident caused by the present accused, eventually his leg was amputated through the knee, but also languished mental anguish and psychological damage, making him entitled for compensation under Section 544-A of the CrPC.”

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs1.2m on the convict as compensation under Section 544-A of the CrPC. In case of default, the accused will suffer six months in prison. Additionally, if the compensation amount was not paid to the victim, it would be recovered as land revenue arrears as provided under the aforementioned section of the CrPC, the order said.

According to state prosecutor Arif Sitai, complainant Asif Mehmood had lodged an FIR in November 2018, informing the police that he received a phone call from a Chhipa staffer who told him that his brother had been injured near Shershah and shifted to the Trauma Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital. At the hospital, the victim informed his brother that he had been hit by a vehicle being driven rashly and negligently, resulting in a knee fracture, the complainant said.

Later, the victim was shifted to a private hospital where doctors suggested that the victim’s leg had to be amputated, he added. In his statement before the court, the victim testified that on the day of the incident, he was going from Naval Colony towards Saddar. However, near Shershah Chowk, the driver of a Mazda loading truck, coming from the wrong side, hit him, causing the injury.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2024