Attributing contributory negligence for not wearing a helmet, a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal docked 30%, awarding only Rs 1.02 crore (with interest) compensation instead of Rs 1.46 crore to the widow, children & mother of a 38-year-old Andheri man who died after a truck rammed into his bike at Powai in 2014.
While the tribunal found that the truck driver had driven negligently, it also held that the biker had not followed the rules. The tribunal said that from the record of scene of the incident, there seems to be no presence of helmet at the spot.
The MACT said, “Also, the panchas (independent witnesses) of inquest did not notice even a broken helmet around the head of the deceased. All these circumstances are sufficient to infer that he carried the risk by not following the rules of act & thus, contributed to an accident. It is well settled that under these circumstances, the compensation has to be reduced to the extent of 30%".
The tribunal had calculated the compensation amount to be around Rs 95.23 lakh (without interest). Among the compensation components were loss of future income, loss of spousal consortium for his wife, parental consortium for his children & filial consortium for his mother. Also included was loss of estate & funeral expenses incurred.
The Tribunal said, “Accused had contributed to an accident to some extent i.e, 30%... Thus, 30% compensation shall be deducted on that ground. Thus, total quantum of compensation payable to the petitioners come to Rs 65.96 lakh".
While victim Satyaprakash Singh’s wife Komal Singh (38) will receive 70% of the compensation, the rest is to be equally divided between his mother Surjadevi Singh (73) & children Kusum Singh (18) & Ishan Singh (14). On Jan 21, 2015, the family had moved the tribunal against truck owner SR Metal Works & insurance company The New India Assurance Co Ltd. They sought a compensation of Rs one crore submitting that Satyaprakash was working for a private company & earning a monthly salary of Rs 50,000. The family submitted that on February 1, 2014, Satyaprakash died in the accident.
The truck driver was booked for causing death by negligence & rash & negligent driving.
Seeking dismissal of the claim, the insurance company accused the deceased of contributing to the accident. It also submitted that the truck driver was not holding a valid driving license & thus, the vehicle owner committed breach of terms of insurance policy.
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