The family of a 32-year-old road mishap victim, who died on being hit by an auto rickshaw while crossing the road, has been awarded a compensation of over Rs 20.42 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT).
The MACT asked United India Insurance Company Ltd, with which the offending vehicle was insured, to pay Rs 20,42,500 to the kin of victim Anil Kumar Tiwari who had died on July 16 last year, over nine months after the mishap on September 29,2010.
The tribunal, however, allowed the insurance firm to collect the amount from the owner of the offending vehicle as the driver of the auto rickshaw did not have a valid licence to drive a commercial vehicle.
“The driving licence of respondent no 1 (Anil Kumar) was valid for motorcycle and non-transport light motor vehicle only. The offending vehicle was a three-wheeler passenger vehicle. It is, therefore, clear that the offending vehicle was a commercial vehicle but was being driven by respondent 1 without a valid driving licence on the date of accident.
“Accordingly, respondent 1 and 2 (Jasvinder Singh) are jointly and severally liable. Respondent 3 (insurance company) to initially pay the amount but would be entitled to recover the amount from respondent 2,” MACT Presiding Officer Dinesh Bhatt said.
The accident had occurred on the night of September 29, 2010 when an auto rickshaw driven by Anil Kumar had hit the victim near the ISBT flyover here.
Tiwari was rushed to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital where he underwent treatment for his injuries, including injury to his spinal cord but died months later during the treatment. The driver and the owner of the vehicle, in their written statements, had contended that Tiwari was himself responsible for the accident as he was crossing the road from a non permitted point.
The tribunal, however, rejected the contention relying on the “unrebutted testimony” of witnesses and the documents on record and said, “It is prima facie proved that deceased died due to injuries suffered in the accident caused by rash and negligent driving of the respondent 1.”
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