Retired govt bus driver gets 1 year jail for 2019 accident

Trichy: The district judicial magistrate court on Tuesday sentenced a 61-year-old retired govt bus driver from Trichy to one year of imprisonment for causing the death of a man by hitting his motorcycle in 2019. On Oct 7, 2019, the driver, K Govindaraj, from Melakalkandarkottai, was operating a bus from the Central bus stand to Crawford. Near the railway's SP office around 8.45pm, the bus collided with the two-wheeler of Sagayalawrance, a daily wage worker from Crawford. He was rushed to Trichy Government Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.The traffic south police registered a case against Govindaraj under sections 279 and 304A of the Indian Penal Code for rash driving and causing death by negligence and arrested him. The case came to the hearing before the judicial magistrate court. Public prosecutor B Venkatesan represented the state and advocate P Thulasi Ayya appeared for the defence. Govindaraj had retired from service about a year ago.Judge M Darvinmuthu convicted Govindaraj and imposed one year of simple imprisonment on him along with a fine of Rs 6,000.