Whoever causes death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine; and if such act is done by a registered medical practitioner while performing medical procedure, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation: For the purposes of this sub-section, “registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner who possesses any medical qualification recognised under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (30 of 2019) and whose name has been entered in the National Medical Register or a State Medical Register under that Act.
Whoever causes death of any person by rash and negligent driving of vehicle not amounting to culpable homicide, and escapes without reporting it to a police officer or a Magistrate soon after the incident, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description of a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
In simpler terms, section 106 (1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 states that if someone (without intention) causes another person’s death by the reason of careless or negligent act, shall be punished with imprisonment for up to 5 years with fine.
Special Case- Doctors:
If death is caused by a registered medical practitioner (due to negligence) while performing a medical procedure, he shall be punished with imprisonment for up to two years with fine.
Section 106 (2) further explains that if a person after causing death (not amounting to culpable homicide) of another due to rash and negligent driving and then tries to run away from the scene without informing police or magistrate will face harsher punishment of imprisonment for up to ten years with fine.
Punishment:
- Death by negligence: Imprisonment for up to 5 years with Fine
- Death by Medical Practitioner: Imprisonment for up to 2 years with Fine
- Death by rash driving (and not reporting it): Imprisonment for up to 10 years with Fine
Example:
Ravi is a construction site supervisor, who failed to handle heavy metal beam properly. The beam falls and hits a worker, which caused death on the spot.
Though Ravi did not intent to kill the worker, but his negligent act caused his death, therefore Ravi shall be punished imprisonment for up to 5 years and fine.