Rs 17.42 lakh relief for truck cleaner’s family

Death in mishap

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 12

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has awarded a compensation of Rs 17.42 lakh to the family of a Jammu and Kashmir-origin truck cleaner, who died in an accident near Ambala in 2016.

On November 16, 2016, Tanveer Ahmad (27), a resident of Sector 29, Chandigarh, was riding a truck as a cleaner when another truck, being driven by accused Balbir Singh, hit the vehicle. Ahmad was injured and taken to the Sector 16 hospital in Chandigarh, where he was declared brought dead.

A criminal case was registered under Sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life), and 304-A (death due to negligence) of the IPC at the Shahzadpur police station against the driver of the other truck on the basis of a statement made by an eyewitness.

The family of the deceased had sought a compensation of Rs 1 crore along with interest of 18 per cent per annum. According to Suraya Begum, wife of the deceased, her husband was 27 years old and was working as a cleaner and earning Rs 25,000 monthly.

The defence counsel argued that the claimant concocted a story as the vehicle was being driven by the victim himself and there was “contributory negligence” on the part of the deceased as it was a head-on collision.

However, the tribunal relied on the post-mortem report that showed that the accident resulted in Ahmad’s death.

The tribunal treated the deceased as an “unskilled labour” as no evidence was produced regarding his employer and income. The amount of compensation thus came to Rs 17,42,800 along with interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent per annum.

Of this, an amount of Rs 40,000 has been awarded to Ahmad’s wife towards loss of consortium. Deceased’s mother Jarifa Begum and father Suleman Sekh were awarded Rs 15,000 for loss of estate and Rs 15,000 on account of funeral expenditure.

The tribunal held that truck owner Kuldeep Singh, accused and driver Balbir Singh and New India Assurance Company Limited, being the insurer of the offending vehicle, will be jointly liable to pay the amount of compensation.

Fact file

On November 16, 2016, Tanveer Ahmad (27), a resident of Sector 29, Chandigarh, was riding a truck as a cleaner when another truck, being driven by accused Balbir Singh, hit the vehicle. Ahmad was injured and taken to the Sector 16 hospital in Chandigarh, where he was declared brought dead.