When Delhi judge sentenced the son of a Haryana-based industrialist to two years’ imprisonment on Saturday for mowing down a motorcyclist with his luxury car in 2008, he pointed out that the penalty for killing cattle with a vehicle is more severe than the punishment for killing people.
Additional sessions judge Sanjeev Kumar quoted a song from a Bollywood movie and called for penalty reform.
The Hindustan Times quoted him as saying, “The sentence for killing a cow is five, seven or 14 years in different states, but the sentence for causing the death of a human being through rash or negligent driving is only two years.”
In 2008, Utsav Bhasin’s car hit Anuj Chauhan and his friend, Mrigank Srivastava. Chauhan succumbed to his injuries while Srivastava survived.
The court found 30-year-old Utsav Bhasin guilty of rash driving, voluntarily causing hurt on provocation and causing death by negligence. Compensation of Rs10 lakh (US$15,000) was awarded to the family of the deceased and Rs2 lakh to Srivastava.
According to the Hindustan Times, the court said a copy of the judgment must be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so he can consider steps to increase the penalty for such offenses. The report also stated that the judge quoted a song from the Bollywood movie Jindagi aur Toofan: “Humankind can change its fate if it wants to, can change the entire picture of the world if it wants to, as long as there is a strong resolve to do so.”
Many believers think that Cows are walking gods on earth.