The Thane Motor Accident Claims
Tribunal (MACT) in Maharashtra has awarded a compensation of Rs 10.18 lakh to parents of an 18-year-old man who died in a road accident in 2013.
MACT member R N Rokade last month ordered the offending vehicle's owner to pay the compensation to parents of the deceased.
Ramajan Fakruddin Shaikh and his wife Latifa Shaikh, residents of Bhiwandi town here, told the tribunal that their son Aijaz Shaikh worked with a packaging firm in Thane city and earned Rs 10,000 per month.
On June 5, 2013, when he was travelling with some others people in a jeep from Mumbai to Chandwad in neighbouring Nashik district, the speeding vehicle's driver lost control over the wheels. As a result, the jeep hit a road divider and overturned.
While three of its passengers died on the spot, some others, including Aijaz Shaikh, received serious injuries.
He was admitted to Wockhardt Hospital at Chandwad and later shifted to Mumbai's Sion Hospital where he died on July 11, 2013.
The accident occurred due to negligence on part of the jeep driver, the claimants told the court, adding they incurred huge expenses on the treatment of their son, who was the family's sole breadwinner.
A case was registered by Chandwad police in connection with the incident, they further informed.
The insurer - Iffco Tokio General Insurance Company Ltd - contested the claim, but the jeep owner, Rustam Mohd Ali, did not appear before the tribunal. Hence, the order was passed ex-parte against him.
In his order, MACT member Rokade noted that the insurer informed that it used to issue a cover note having an eight-digit number.
But, the cover note placed on record by the applicants is a photocopy, having only a three-digit number. It also shows that the premium was not calculated in the cover note.
Hence, there is no cogent and clinching evidence to show that the offending jeep was insured with the firm at the time of the accident, he observed.
Therefore, the insurer is not liable to pay the compensation, but the liability of the jeep owner cannot be disputed, Rokade said in his order.
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