Man dies, son loses eye in road mishap; family gets Rs 34L

Four persons of a family, who met with a brutal accident after a truck hit their car leaving one dead and another disabled, have been awarded Rs 34 lakh compensation by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.
MACT Judge Pawan Kumar Jain decided two separate pleas, one by the wife of the deceased man and another by his son who lost an eye, and directed HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd to pay the compensation to the family.
The 48-year-old postman Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal along with his family was on his way to Garh Mukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh on September 7, 2009, to perform the last rites of a relative when a rashly and negligently driven truck hit their Innova car.

The head-on collision killed Rajesh on the spot, disabled his son Amit and injured other members, the petitions said.
While one petition sought Rs 80 lakh compensation for the death of Rajesh, the other filed by Amit sought Rs 50 lakh for the disability suffered by him.
The tribunal awarded Rs 27 lakh to Rajesh's mother, wife (now deceased) and two sons - Amit and Sumeet, for his death and separately Rs 7.4 lakh to Amit for the grave injuries suffered by him.
During the proceedings, the insurance company claimed that since truck driver did not have a valid driving licence, the company was not liable to pay the compensation.

However, the driver and owner contended that he had a valid driving licence and the vehicle was insured with the company.