Kin of road accident victim gets over Rs 27 lakh compensation

Family members of a 26-year-old youth, who died in a road accident after being run over by a water tanker, have been awarded a compensation of over Rs 27 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.
The tribunal directed United India Insurance Company Ltd, with which the water tanker was insured, to pay Rs 27,06,624 as compensation to the parents and two siblings of Ashish Jain, who died after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a tanker near New Ashok Nagar in east Delhi in 2008.
The tribunal held the offending vehicle's driver guilty of rash and negligent driving, after he failed to appear in the witness box to defend himself.

"The issue thus stands decided in favour of petitioners (family members) holding that the accident happened as a result of negligent driving by respondent no. 1 (driver)," MACT Presiding Officer Ravinder Bedi said.
The tribunal also relied on the testimony of Pankaj Kumar, the sole eye witness to the accident.
According to the petition filed by Ashish's parents, on March 21, 2008, he was coming home on his motorcycle when a speeding tanker, being driven in a rash and negligent manner, hit him.

Due to the impact, he fell down and his head was crushed under the wheels of the tanker, the petition said.

Ashish was taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Eye witness Pankaj, who was driving his car at the accident spot, lodged the complaint with the police.
The petition, which claimed a compensation of Rs 1.20 crore for the untimely death of Ashish who was unmarried, stated that he was running a business of motor parts and earned between Rs 17,000 and Rs 18,000 per month.
The driver and owner of the tanker were proceeded ex-parte after they failed to appear before the tribunal. The insurance company claimed that the tanker driver was not holding a valid driving licence at the time of the accident.

The tribunal accepted the claim of the insurance company 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.