Road mishap victim's kin get Rs 15.60 lakh relief

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Chandigarh, March 19

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Chandigarh, has directed an insurance company, the rider and the owner of a motorcycle to pay Rs15.60 lakh compensation to the wife and six children of a person, Vidya Nand Sah, who died in a road accident two years ago.

The claimants filed a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. In the petition, Somiya Devi, wife of Vidya Nand Sah, and others said the victim was returning to his room after finishing his work in the fields on January 18, 2019, in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. A person, who was driving the motorcycle in a rash and negligent manner, rammed his bike into him.

As a result, the victim fell on the road and suffered serious injuries on his head and other parts of the body. He was taken to Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital, Mandi, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

A FIR was registered against the owner of the bike at Balh police station, Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh.

The claimants alleged that Vidya Nand Sah died due to rash and negligent driving by the biker and demanded Rs30,00,000 compensation. They said Vidya Nand Sah was a labourer and they all were dependent on his earnings. The rider and owner of the bike denied all charges and claimed that no accident took place.

The counsel for the claimants said they had proved that Vidya Nand died due to the road accident.

After hearing the arguments, the MACT said after careful perusal of the file, the Tribunal was of the considered opinion that the claimants had been successful in proving the fact that they were entitled for the compensation on account of death of Vidya Nand Sah being dependent on his income.

In view of this, the Tribunal directed the bike rider and the owner and the insurance company to pay a compensation of Rs15.60 lakh to the claimants, along with interest @ 7.5 per cent per annum from the date of filing of petition till realisation.