Family members of a 32-year-old auto rickshaw driver, who died in a road accident involving a rashly driven car, have been awarded a compensation of over Rs 27 lakhs by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.
The tribunal directed United India Insurance Company, insurer of the offending car, to pay Rs 27,25,170 to the seven family members--the parents, wife and four minor daughters of the victim Ram Darshan Mahto, who died on-the-spot in the accident in May this year.
The tribunal relied on the testimony of the eyewitness on whose complaint a case was registered against the driver.
"Nothing material came in cross examination to disbelieve the version of this witness. His version is duly corroborated by police investigation," MACT Presiding Officer Ajay Kumar Jain said, while adding that the petition proved that Mahto "suffered fatal injuries due to rash and negligent driving of the driver".
According to the petition, filed by victim's wife, Mahto was driving his auto rickshaw at around 2 AM on May 4, 2014 when a rashly driven car overtook his vehicle.
When he reached near the Defence Colony flyover, the car suddenly applied brakes because of which Mahto's auto crashed into it and he died on-the-spot, it said.
The family members rejected the offer of Rs 9.4 lakhs made by the insurance company, which also contended that the accident had occurred due to the contributory negligence of the victim.
The driver and the owner of the car, through written statements, had contended that the car driver was falsely implicated by the police.
