Rs 42 lakh compensation for accident victim kin

The family of a shipping firm's senior executive who died after being hit by a rashly driven car has been awarded Rs 42 lakh compensation by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.
The tribunal awarded the amount by taking into account that the deceased was less than 40 years of age and had future prospects.
It directed ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd, with whom the offending vehicle was insured, to pay the amount to the widow and three minor children of 39-year-old Gauri Shankar Jha.
Jha had suffered fatal injuries after being hit by the car while standing on roadside with his colleague to get his motorbike's punctured tyre fixed.

"The deceased (Shankar) was in permanent employment. His salary was increasing every year.... Therefore, the deceased had future prospects. Since his age was less than 40 years, claimants are entitled to a compensation of 50 per cent for loss of future prospects.
".... Total compensation payable to the claimants would be Rs 42,97,545," MACT Presiding Officer Arun Bhardwaj said.

Shankar's colleague, Ajit Kumar Jha, who also suffered serious injuries in the accident was awarded Rs 1.28 lakh by the tribunal.
While awarding the compensation, the tribunal rejected the contention of Ashwini Kumar the driver-cum-owner of the offending vehicle, who had claimed that the accident occurred as Shankar was riding his motorbike in a in a rash manner saying that since the deceased's two-wheeler was punctured, "there was no question of him being negligent in driving it".

The MACT also relied on the testimony of the deceased's colleague, who apart from being a victim of the accident was also an eye-witness and had contended that the offending vehicle was being driven in a rash and negligent manner by Kumar.
The order came on the two separate claims, filed by the widow of the deceased as well as his colleague, which were dealt with jointly by the tribunal.
The claimants had said in their complaint that Shankar had suffered fatal injuries in the accident on December 5, 2012 at around 2:05 pm, near Dabri red light on Dwarka Road here after being hit by Kumar's rashly driven Maruti Suzuki Swift.