The husband of a woman passenger from Mumbai, who had died on board a private bus last year, has filed a criminal original petition in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to police to register the case as "death due to negligence" on the part of the tour operator.
When the matter came up, Justice R Subbiah directed the Inspector General of Koyambedu Police to file the final report on the suspicious death of the passenger as expeditiously as possible.
Maria Don, an employee with ONGC in Mumbai, had come on a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Velankanni in Nagapattinam district between September 4 and 7. On her return journey to Chennai, she died under suspicious circumstances.
Her husband N K K Don, in his petition, contended that "negligence and carelessness of the driver and staff on board the bus alone had caused the death".
"If she had been given proper medical treatment after she fell unconscious, she wouldn't have lost her life," he said, alleging that the bus staff did not disclose all the facts connected to the incident.
The petitioner further said police had registered a case under Section 174 of the CrPC (suspicious death) instead of IPC section 304 A (causing death by negligence).
