New Delhi, Jul 22 A Delhi Motor Accident Claims Tribunal has awarded Rs 28.4 lakh as compensation to the family of a 51-year-old man who died after being hit by an Uttar Pradesh roadways bus in Noida in 2019, holding the driver guilty of rash and negligent driving.
Presiding Officer Richa Manchanda was hearing the claim petition filed by the family of the, victim Ashwani Kumar Sharma, and directed the bus driver and the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), being the possessory and registered owners of the bus, to jointly and severally pay the compensation with interest at 7.5 per cent per annum.
In an order dated July 14, the tribunal said, "In view of the aforesaid discussion and the evidence which has come on record, it is held that the petitioners have been able to prove based on preponderance of probabilities that deceased Ashwani Kumar had sustained fatal injuries in a road accident due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle".
Sharma died on March 2, 2019, after the bus allegedly struck his bicycle near the Great India Place (GIP) Mall in Sector 38, while he was travelling towards Film City. His wife, two sons and parents had sought Rs 50 lakh as compensation.
Rejecting the driver's defence that the cyclist himself was responsible for the accident, the tribunal relied on the FIR, chargesheet and other criminal case records, saying they established, on the touchstone of preponderance of probabilities, that the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the bus.
The tribunal noted that the FIR was lodged promptly and the investigating agency had named the driver in the chargesheet under sections 279 (rash driving), 304A (death by negligence) and 427 (causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code and section 185 (driving under influence of alcohol) of the Motor Vehicles Act, ruling out any possibility of false implication.
While calculating the compensation, the tribunal accepted the deceased's monthly salary at Rs 20,283 based on salary records produced by his employer and awarded Rs 28.4 lakh towards loss of dependency.
