279 & 338 sections
Dear Sirs,
My wife had knocked down a 56 year old man while driving her car. She hospitalized him immediately. It was a case of 3 rib fractures & a shoulder bone fracture. The person was discharged after 3 days since there were no complications. However, the case was registered against my wife under 279 & 338. The court has granted bail & given us a date of 08/1/15. As a matter of fact, she was driving the car in a small bye lane where the speed was hardly 20-25 kmpl. The person who was knocked down was walking on the side of the road, when he suddenly side stepped in the middle of the road to avoid the opening of a door of a car parked on the left side. As a result, he suddenly came in front of my wife's car. Since the car was slow, he was knocked down & rolled a couple of times, which caused the rib fractures. He was not run over by the car's tyres.
We not only paid Rs.26000/- towards the Hospital stay & Medicines, but his son also took away the Original Hospital Bills to claim his mediclaim (although he did not pay). They even tried to increase my hospital bill by asking us to upgrade his father to a first class, so that my hospital bill would increase & so they would be able to claim a higher amount from their mediclaim.
We had compensated the person aggrieved. However, when we spoke to them for co-operating us, they are now saying that they would only do what their lawyer would advise them.
Could you please advise me, what should be our stand in the court. Do I need to engage a lawyer to defend my wife. I have all the proofs of the hospital receipts being charged to me. If required, could you please suggest a criminal lawyer for Andheri court, Mumbai.
RAKESH NARVEKAR