Uttarakhand HC upholds compensation of Rs 29 lakh for family of deceased Army jawan

The Uttarakhand High Court has upheld the compensation awarded to the family of an Indian Army soldier who died in a road accident in 2011, dismissing an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation. A single bench of Justice Pankaj Purohit upheld the order passed by the Pithoragarh Motor Accident Claims Tribunal directing the corporation to pay Rs 28.91 lakh, including interest, to the deceased soldier's family. The court held that the accident occurred due to the driver's negligence when the corporation bus hit a parked truck. Naik Ganesh Singh of the 5th Guards Regiment of the Indian Army was travelling in the corporation's bus from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, to Tanakpur in Uttarakhand on July 7, 2011. But the bus driver lost control and the vehicle collided with a truck parked on the roadside. Singh was seriously injured in the accident and died while undergoing treatment at the hospital. The transport corporation claimed that the accident occurred while trying to save a cyclist and that the truck was parked at a wrong place. However, the court rejected the argument on the grounds that the bus driver was not produced as a witness and no evidence was presented to support the claim.