Stringent action awaits school bus driver

The driver of the school bus which turned turtle and responsible for the death of a boy would be charged under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, the Bangalore Rural police said on Friday.

Police sources, however, said that the 32-year-old driver, Govindaraju P, would face stringent legal action, if medical reports confirmed the suspicion that he was under the influence of alcohol when the accident took place.

Soon after the accident on Wednesday, the police had charged the driver under IPC sections 279 (rash driving), 338 (causing grievous hurt) and 304-A (causing death by negligence).

It has been believed that the driver was drunk when the mini-bus rammed into a tree near Tindlu Gate and rolled on its side down the road, killing 13-year-old Abhilash and injuring 15 other students of the St Philomena’s High School on Attibele Main Road.

Govindaraju has been undergoing treatment at the Vims
Hospital. If traces of alcohol were found in the blood and urine samples of the driver, the case would naturally take a serious turn, in accordance with several rulings of the high court.

A police officer said the hospital had taken the blood and urine samples on time, and tests had found traces of alcohol.
“This strengthens the case,” the police officer said, adding that Govindaraju could be charged for a non-bailable offence.