Chandigarh: Accident claims tribunal awards Rs 53-lakh relief to victim’s wife

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Chandigarh, has directed the driver and owner of a car and an insurance company to pay a compensation of Rs 53.34 lakh to Nisha Devi, a resident of Ambala district, whose husband had died in an accident four years ago.

In the petition filed before the court, Nisha said that on July 2, 2022, her husband Gaurav Kumar died in an accident while returning home at Sulakhani village, Ambala district, on his motorcycle from his work place at Naraingarh. She said a car being driven at a very high speed hit Gaurav’s motorcycle while trying to overtake him, seriously injuring him in the accident.

Some passersby took the injured to Civil Hospital, Naraingarh, from where he was referred to General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula. However, during treatment Gaurav died due to the serious injuries suffered in the accident. An FIR was registered on the statement of his colleague Kartik, who was also going with him while riding on a different motorcycle.

She said that Gaurav was 28-year-old at the time of his death and was working as quality control officer with Venky’s India Limited, Patvi. He was getting a salary of 30,000 per month. The entire family was dependent upon his income. Hence, they sought a compensation of Rs 95 lakh along with interest @ 15% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till realisation.

The driver and the owner of the car on the other hand told the court that no accident took place with their vehicle. After hearing the arguments, the tribunal partly allowed the petition and directed the driver, owner of the car and the insurance company to pay a compensation of Rs 53,34,128 to the claimants along with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of realisation of the amount. All respondents are jointly and severally liable to pay the compensation amount to the claimants.