Kin of road accident victim gets over Rs 13 lakh compensation

Family members of a 36-year-old woman, who died after being run over by a rashly driven tanker, have been awarded a compensation of over Rs 13 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.

The tribunal directed the New India Assurance Company, with which the offending vehicle was insured, to pay a compensation of Rs 13,76,250 to the husband and minor children of Indira Devi, who was run over by a negligently driven tanker near Sikanderpur in Uttar Pradesh in 2010.

"Driver (of the tanker) did not step into the witness box to state as to how the accident occurred and to depose that he was not at fault and was not driving the vehicle in rash and negligent manner," MACT Presiding Officer Kiran Bansal said, while holding the driver guilty of rash and negligent driving.

While deciding the petition in the favour of the victim's family, the tribunal also relied on the documents produced before it, including the FIR and mechanical inspection reports of the vehicles involved in the accident.

"In view of the criminal case record of the accident and the statement of the petitioner, it is proved that Indira Devi sustained fatal injuries in the accident due to rash and negligent driving of offending tanker driver," the tribunal held.

According to the petition filed by Bijendra, husband of the victim, Indira was riding pillion on a bike with him when the tanker hit the motorcycle in 2010 in UP.

Due to the impact, Indira fell down and was crushed under the wheels of the tanker, leading to her death on the spot, it added. She was taken to the Sushruta Trauma Centre where she was declared brought dead by the doctors, it said.

Bijendra, a resident of Karawal Nagar in north-east Delhi, had told the tribunal that Indira was earning her livelihood by working as a tailor.

The tribunal, however, considered Indira as a housewife saying that there was nothing on record to prove that she was working.

The driver and the owner of the tanker did not appear before the tribunal which proceeded against them ex-parte.

The tribunal accepted the claim of the insurance company that the driver did not have a valid driving licence at the time of the accident and allowed it to recover the amount from the driver and the owner of the tanker after paying the compensation to the victim's family.