CHANDIGARH: In an order having wide-reaching implications for road safety and military accountability, Punjab and Haryana high court has held that the Union of India cannot claim “sovereign immunity” in cases of negligent driving by Army personnel on public roads.”Sovereign immunity is not absolute, it operates only within a very narrow sphere of functions that are inextricably linked with the core sovereign powers of the State, and it cannot be invoked to shield routine administrative, operational, or vehicular acts of government servants from judicial scrutiny or civil liability,” the HC has ruled. The court also observed that the state while exercising its powers, is bound to act in consonance with the Constitution and the will of the people, and cannot arrogate to itself supremacy that overrides the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to its citizens. Justice Virinder Aggarwal passed these orders while awarding compensation to four civilians injured in a 1996 road accident involving a military truck. The bench overturned a 2001 decision of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT), Kurukshetra, which had dismissed the victims’ compensation claims despite finding the Army driver negligent. The tribunal had ruled that the driver was performing a “sovereign function,” thereby shielding the Union of India from liability. Calling the tribunal’s findings wholly unsustainable in law, the HC said negligent driving on a public road cannot be equated with a sovereign function to absolve liability. The court also reiterated that the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which originates from the English maxim “rex non potest peccare – the king can do no wrong”, cannot be mechanically applied in the modern constitutional scheme of India. The HC further held that the doctrine of sovereign immunity has no application to the facts of the present case. The Union of India, being the employer and owner of the offending vehicle, is vicariously liable for the negligent act of its driver. The finding of the tribunal to the contrary is legally unsustainable and is hereby set aside. 5 injured in 1996 accident On Aug 16, 1996, a military truck, driven rashly while overtaking a bus on the GT Road near Khanpur Kolian village, Kurukshetra, collided head-on with a Maruti car. Five occupants of the car sustained serious injuries. FIRs, medical records, and witness testimonies had established the Army driver’s fault.
