Tribunal awards Rs 67.23 lakh compensation to family of 2016 road accident victim

The Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal (MACT) has awarded a compensation of Rs 67.23 lakh to the family of a 51-year-old Senior Technical Assistant of BEL who was killed after her scooter struck a car leading to her death, in Derabassi (Punjab), in 2016.

As per the application, the incident took place on November 27, 2016, when victim Uma Sharma was coming from Ambala to her house at Panchkula, while driving scooter at slow speed. She was being followed by her brother-in-law Amit Jha in a car. When Uma crossed the bus stand of Gholu Majra village Derabassi, a car (CH03-M-8880) came at a fast speed and overtook them. The driver then applied brakes suddenly in the middle of the road, causing the scooter to strike the car. As a result of this accident, the victim fell on the road and received serious head injury and multiple other injuries. She was taken to the Civil Hospital, Derabassi from where she was referred to GMCH Sector 32, Chandigarh, where she died due to the injuries. The driver of the offending car, Balwinder Singh, was arrested and an FIR under sections 279, 304-A and 427 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Lalru police station, Mohali.

Following the accident on August 6, 2019, the victim’s husband Sandeep Sharma (45), daughter Veni Sharma (20), and son Aditya Sharma (26), moved an application for compensation of Rs 1.5 crore in the MACT, claiming themselves to be the legal heirs. It was stated in the application that the victim was 51-year-old and was working as a Senior Technical Assistant in Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at Panchkula (Haryana) and was earning Rs 67,000 approximately.

A notice was issued to Balwinder Singh of Mohali, who in reply submitted that Uma Sharma was driving the scooter in a rash and negligent manner at a high speed and could not stop her vehicle. The victim could not maintain the safe distance between the scooter and the car. When the car stopped at the Dappar Toll Plaza for obtaining the pass, the scooter hit the car from backside.

After hearing the arguments, the facts of the case, and plea of the victim’s family, the tribunal, granted compensation of Rs 67,23,170 to the legal claimants of the victim with directions to the Oriental Insurance Company Limited, the car driver and owner of car to jointly pay the compensation.

Source: The Indian Express