New Delhi, Sep 17 A Motor Accident Claims Tribunal here has awarded a compensation of Rs 25.82 lakh to the family of a 21-year-old student who died in a road accident eight years ago.
Presiding Officer Abhilash Malhotra was hearing a claim plea by the family members of Gaurav Kumar, who died in a road accident under Dadri police station limits in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district.
The plea had been filed in New Delhi District, as the office of the insurance company, New India Assurance Company Ltd, was within the territorial limits of the tribunal at Patiala House courts.
According to the plea, a bus driven "at a very high speed, rashly, negligently, without taking necessary precaution, in a zig-zag manner" rammed into Kumar’s two-wheeler on December 21, 2018, because of which he sustained grievous injuries, and later died during treatment at AIIMS, Delhi.
In an order dated September 10, the tribunal directed New India Assurance Company Ltd to deposit the compensation amount of around Rs 25.82 lakh.
“In the present case, since the (bus) driver exercised his volition to not enter into the witness box to controvert the claim of the petitioner or even to explain circumstances of the accident, an adverse inference ought to be drawn against him,” the tribunal said.
Noting the evidence before it, the MACT said that the bus driver’s negligence had been established.
It then directed the vehicle’s insurer to pay the compensation under various heads, such as loss of dependency, loss of consortium and estate, funeral expenses and interest.
