Parents of 20-yr-old road mishap victim to get Rs 12.9 lakh

The parents of a 20-year-old boy, who died in a road accident after the car he was travelling in turned turtle, have been awarded Rs 12.93 lakh as compensation by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.

MACT Presiding Officer S S Malhotra directed Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd to pay the amount to the victim's parents and rejected the firm's contention that the policy was not in force when the accident took place.

"The court is of the opinion that irrespective of the fact that insurance is a subject matter of request and general principle of offer and acceptance do apply on them, yet such rules cannot be enforced unilaterally at the whims or fancies of the insurance company," the tribunal said.

It decided the petition in favour of victim's father Visun Paswan and mother Arun Devi who had approached the MACT alleging that their son had gone for immersion of goddess Saraswati in a tempo with other persons on February 5, 2014. While they were returning, the rashly driven vehicle went out of control and turned turtle near Bawana in north Delhi.

Due to the impact, all those in the vehicle suffered grievous injuries and were taken to hospital, where the petitioner couple's son Jitender was declared brought dead, the plea said.

The MACT, while deciding the petition, relied on the testimony of an eye witness, the post-mortem report of the victim, the FIR, charge sheet and mechanical inspection report of the vehicle.

During the proceedings, the insurance company contended that it was not obliged to pay the amount as the insurance policy of the vehicle was yet to commence as per some rules and conditions. The claims of the insurance firm were rejected by the tribunal.