MACT awards Rs 86 lakh to kin of man killed by speeding truck

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded compensation of Rs 86.79 lakh to the widow, children and mother of a man who was killed after a truck dashed his motorcycle.

MACT member RS Patil Bhosale, in a recent order, asked the National Insurance Company to pay the compensation and then recover it from the owner of the truck.

Madan Bhagat (37), an employee of the state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company, was heading to Thane on his motorcycle on August 5, 2015 when a speeding truck rammed into his vehicle and three others near Mumbra bypass, killing him instantly.

Bhagat's lawyer, SS Shetty, told the MACT that Bhagat earned Rs 45,000 per month.

While the insurance firm contended that it was not liable to pay since the truck, owned by Raju Nandwani, did not have a fitness certificate at the time of the accident, the MACT asked the firm to pay and then recover the money from the truck owner.

The MACT ordered the firm to make the payment along with an interest of 7.5 per cent effective from October, 2015.

The claimants in the case were Teesgaon resident Mansi Bhagat, her children Jhanvi and Atharva and the deceased's mother Shakunatala Bhagat.