Representative image showing a protest.
Credit: iStock Photo
A section of the truck owners' association in Karnataka has called a strike on January 17 against a new penal law that provides stringent punishment for truck drivers involved in fatal hit-and-run accidents.
Section 106(2) of the recently enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaces the Indian Penal Code (IPC), provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and up to Rs 7 lakh in fines for truck drivers causing deadly hit-and-runs through rash or negligent acts.
Previously, IPC Section 304(A) treated such incidents as causing death by negligence not amounting to homicide and punished it with up to two years' imprisonment or fine or both.
The strike call has been given by C Naveen Reddy, president of the Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners' Association (FKLOA).
GR Shanmugappa, president of the Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association (FKSLOAA), called the strike "unnecessary" after Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla announced last week that the government would keep the penal provision in abeyance.
Shanmugappa, who is also the honorary president of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), attended a meeting called by Bhalla with truckers' representatives in New Delhi on January 2, 2024. The AIMTC hasn't called a strike.
Shanmugappa said the FKLOA's strike call would be a "failure". "There are six lakh trucks in Karnataka. Not one will participate in the strike," he told DH.
Radhakrishna Holla, president of the Karnataka State Travel Operators' Association, echoed him, saying a strike would better serve the purpose, if it was held nationally.