The Uttarakhand High Court on September 12 directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 1.90 crore to the next of kin of a doctor shot dead while on duty in 2016.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Manoj Tiwari held that the doctor, Sunil Kumar, was discharging official duties at the Community Health Centre, Jaspur, when he was shot dead on April 20, 2016. The chief minister has agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 50 lakh but till date, only a sum of Rs one lakh has been paid to the petitioner, the court said.

It was the duty of the state government to protect the life of the doctor, the court said, adding that he was on duty and killing a doctor on duty amounts to negation of the rule of law. "Keeping this and various other factors in mind, the court directs the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 1.90 crore along with interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent per annum to the wife of the deceased," the bench said.

The state is also directed to award "extraordinary pension" to the petitioner as per the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) (First Amendment) Rules, 1981, as adopted by the State of Uttarakhand, within 10 weeks from today along with the arrears at the rate of 8.5 per cent per annum, it said.

The doctor was posted at CHC, Jaspur, as a paediatrician when he was shot dead. An FIR was lodged at Jaspur police station by the Emergency Medical Officer, CHC, Jaspur. After much deliberation, the state chief secretary made a proposal to the chief minister on May 26, 2016 for grant of compensation of Rs 50 lakh and appointment of Kumar's elder son as a lecturer in any polytechnic in Dehradun on permanent basis on compassionate grounds and a government accommodation for the doctor's widow for a period of 5 years in Dehradun.

The chief minister endorsed the proposal. However, the family has only been paid Rs one lakh as compensation. The deceased's elder son was given compassionate appointment as a lecturer in Computer Science Department of State Polytechnic, Dehradun, on a contractual basis.