PrepKare Explainers

The Nationwide Truck Driver’s Protest

Key Pointers:

● The truck drivers' opposition to the recently implemented criminal code, the
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), has led to the country-wide protests.
● The main source of disagreement with this legislative framework concerns
the harsher punishments for hit-and-run accidents—a clause that truckers
fiercely object to, calling it a "black law" or "kaala kanoon."

What is the change in the law?

● A fine and imprisonment of up to ten years are the penalties for "anyone
who causes the 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," as stated in the new
BNS provision.
● A truck driver who flees the site of an accident without reporting it to the
authorities faces up to a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of ₹7 lakh,
according to the amended laws.
● This is a substantial rise over the old Indian Penal Code (IPC), which only
allowed for a 2-year jail sentence for these kinds of acts.
● An ongoing truckers' strike has resulted in gasoline shortages at some 2,000
petrol stations, mostly in western and northern India, according to PTI.
Industry authorities stated that several gas stations in Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Punjab had exhausted stockpiles owing to
increased demand, even though state-owned oil corporations had proactively
refilled fuel reserves at multiple petrol pumps nationwide ahead of the strike.

● Later in the day, the All India Motor Transport Association (AIMTC)
decided to call off the nationwide truck drivers' protests against the recently
 enacted hit-and-run rule after speaking with Union Home Secretary Ajay
Bhalla.
● "The government wants to point out that these new laws and provisions have
not yet come into force," Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla stated. After
meeting with a team from the AIMTC, he stated, "We would also like to
point out that the decision to invoke Section 106 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyay
Sanhita will be taken only after consultation with the All India Motor
Transport Congress."

Source: ET