Family of accident victim gets nearly Rs 35 L compensation

Family members of a 35-year-old man, who died after being hit by a rashly driven tempo last year, have been awarded a compensation of nearly Rs 35 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.
The Tribunal directed Reliance General Insurance Company, with which the tempo was insured, to pay Rs 34,75,000 to the wife, mother and three children of Najafgarh resident Rakesh Kumar who was crushed by the vehicle last year.
"The present accident had happened due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle being driven by respondent no 1 (driver) who was driving on the wrong side of the road," MACT Presiding Officer Deepak Jagotra said.

"The eyewitness has given a clear account of events and in the cross examination, his testimony remained unimpeached. No contradiction whatsoever has been brought out by the respondents," the Tribunal said while relying on the testimony of eyewitness Lokesh.
The Tribunal, while awarding the compensation, also relied on the documents including the FIR, mechanical inspection report of the tempo and the post-mortem report of Kumar.
According to the petition filed by Kumar's wife Babita Devi and other family members, he was crossing the road on foot when the tempo hit him and crushed him under its wheels.

Lokesh, being the eyewitness, deposed before the Tribunal that on March 23, 2013, when Kumar was crossing a road near Najafgarh, a tempo came from the wrong side of the road at a very high speed in a negligent manner and hit Kumar who fell down and was run over by it.

Kumar's wife had told the Tribunal that he was working in a private company on a salary of Rs 18,000 per month and was the sole bread earner in the family of six members.
The driver, owner and the insurance company filed their written statements in the Tribunal but did not lead any evidence in their defence, the Tribunal noted.