NEW DELHI: The home ministry will be bringing a Cabinet note inserting a new provision in the penal code increasing the punishment for a fatal hit-and-run accident where the driver may have been intoxicated.The home and law ministries are drafting a ‘Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2015’, which will introduce a new Section — 304 (A) (2) — in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) specifying a maximum seven-year sentence for killing a person on road and driving away from the scene. Essentially, the proposed new Section modifies Section 304 (A) in the law which specifies a maximum sentence of two years for “rash and negligent act leading to death or injury”. Two years will now be the minimum penalty if the changes are made.The provisions related to drunken driving are part of a catena of changes proposed by the government.The proposed changes include criminalising bribery in the private sector, making dowry offences compoundable (i.e. capable of being settled by paying a fine). The new law also proposes deleting a Section of IPC under which people attempting to commit suicide can be prosecuted. There have been many high-profile accidents involving drunken driving over the years, the most famous perhaps being the one involving Bollywood superstar Salman Khan . He was charged under Section 304 (Part 2) of IPC which deals with ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ with a maximum sentence of 10 years.The proposed new Section 304 (A) (2) will now specifically deal with “causing death or injury by rash and negligent driving” and subsequently “driving or running away” without informing any police station within a reasonable time. The offence will be made non-bailable too. The home ministry has also decided to make punishment more stringent in the existing Section 304A. This could be amended so that the maximum sentence is five years, which will apply in cases that are not hit-and-run in nature.10 Changes being made to IPC“Based on recommendations of Law Commission of India as well as from other stakeholders, a draft Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2015, is being drawn up in consultation with Legislative Department of Ministry of Law and Justice,” says a home ministry note accessed by ET, which specifies 10 changes being made to IPC, including the new Section 304 (A) (2). This new Section specifies that if the offence under existing Section 304A or the new Section is committed while under the influence of drinks or drugs, it shall be deemed to have been committed in a rash or negligent manner. “This may remove a lot of confusion over charging intoxicated drivers, who run away from scene of the accident, under the Section 304 (Part 2) or simply Section 304 (A),” a senior home ministry official told ET.Salman Khan was initially charged under Section 304 (A) before a court ruled that he should be instead charged under the stiffer Section 304 (Part 2) for allegedly running his Toyota Land Cruiser over five men sleeping on a pavement in Bandra, leaving one dead. He was sentenced to a fiveyear jail term in May. The Law Commission report had, in fact, come way back in 2009. The new government has now decided to act on this, proposing to bring a host of other changes in the law as part of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The home ministry note says punishment will also be made more stringent for two other provisions related to rash driving and causing hurt to someone due to this — acts punishable under Section 336 and 337, respectively.