'Moving buses at millennium depot putting people in danger'

The Millennium Bus Depot is a public place where buses move freely exposing large number of people to danger, a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal here has said.
The tribunal made the observation while awarding Rs 22.75 lakh to the family members of a bus driver, who was crushed to death by another bus when he was standing in front of a CNG- filling station inside the depot in 2014.
MACT Presiding Officer Rajeev Bansal directed United India Insurance Company Ltd, insurer of the offending bus, to pay the amount and rejected its contention that the victim's family should seek claim under the Employees State Insurance Act as the incident spot (the depot) was not a public place.

"The accident which took place in the present case would be 'a public place' as it was a huge and large bus depot where buses moved freely inside, exposing a large number of human beings to danger," the tribunal said.
47-year-old Gurumukh Singh, who was working as a driver with Star Bus Services Ltd, died after being hit by a bus of the same company when he was standing in the depot on December 24, 2014.
The petition filed by the mother, wife and two children of Singh had claimed Rs 50 lakh for Singh's untimely death.
The tribunal, however, awarded Rs 22,75,000 to them while relying on the FIR (filed for offences of rash and negligent driving and causing death by negligence), charge sheet filed by the police in the case, post mortem report of the victim, mechanical inspection report of the bus and other documents.

During the proceedings, the company owning the bus denied the allegations of negligent driving while the insurance company said the victim was not entitled to compensation from it but from the government under ESI Act.