Family members of a 20-year-old girl, who was killed in a road accident, have been awarded a compensation of 118 per cent amount than the original claim, by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal here.
Tribunal judge S Y Kulkarni observed that the opponent National Insurance Company has failed to prove its case that the accident was the result of negligence by the deceased.
The claim of Rs 20 lakhs was filed by one Suresh Narayan Khopkar 58 and his wife Seema, 48 residents of Mulund in Mumbai against Rashid B Sheikh of Bhiwandi and the National Insurance Company.
Advocate N M Jadhav appearing for the claimants told the court that the victim Rohini Khopkar, 24, a commerce graduate was employed with the MNS Global Services as a Senior Customer Service Associate and was earning an income of Rs 20000 pm.
It was on September 6, 2007 while she was on her way to work on scooter by the Eastern Express Highway on the flyover at about 11 AM that a truck coming from behind rammed into the vehicle killing her on the spot.
He submitted that the truck driver was rash and negligent in his driving resulting in the accident and hence the owner of the truck and the insurance company were liable to pay the compensation of Rs 20,00,000 to the family members of the deceased.
C B Chahal, the counsel for the Insurance company submitted that the accident took place on account of the negligence of the victim and hence the legal heirs of the deceased cannot be allowed to encash the mistakes on her part.
ASI Uttam Bhuingal in his deposition before the Tribunal produced the FIR and other relevant papers and told the court that the accident occurred on account of rash and negligent driving on the part of the truck driver and he dashed the scooter.
In her deposition, Seema the mother of the deceased told the court that Rohini was the only earning member of the family. She also told the court that her husband was not working since last 5-6 years and her son and another daughter were still pursuing their studies.
Considering the facts on record and the submissions by the mother and the Insurance company the court held that the applicants had proved their case and the insurance company could not not do so.
In his calculation for working out the compensation amount the court considered the monthly salary of the deceased as Rs. 20000 per month and added a sum of 50 per cent for the purpose of prospective income as she was below 40 years of age.
The judge said that as evidence on record discloses that she was unmarried at the time of her death he was of the view that 50% of her monthly income has to be deducted for her personal expenses.
Taking into consideration the age of the deceased and the age of the applicants I am of the view that the multiplier of 13 can be adopted in the calculation thus taking the total loss of income/dependency to Rs 23,40,000, the judge noted.
In addition to this he allowed an additional sum of Rs. 5000 for funeral expenses, Rs 5000 for loss of estate, and an additional sum of Rs 10,000 for loss of love and affection, thus taking the total award to Rs 23,60,000.
Tags: Accident Victim Compensation | National Insurance Company | Motor Accident Claims Tribunal | Insurance News
