Delhi court awards Rs 1.54 cr compensation to parents of road accident victim
May 17, 2023
New Delhi [India], May 17 : Delhi's Rohini court has awarded a compensation of Rs 1.54 crore to the parents of a doctor who died in a road accident which occurred after a speeding truck suddenly applied brakes.
Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) Judge Ekta Gauba Mann awarded the compensation after hearing submissions of the parents of Dr Ghufran Alam, the driver of the truck, the owner and the Insurance company with which the truck was insured.
The incident took place in Bawana Area in the year 2017. The deceased doctor was around 31 years of age.
Nouman Alam and Musarrat Jehan, the parents of Ghufran Alam had moved the petition in 2018 seeking compensation. They originally belong to Bihar's Araria.
The court considered the petition and awarded a compensation of Rs 1,54,09,000 to the parents of the deceased.
After considering the facts and evidence, the court directed the insurance company to pay compensation to the petitioners. The court also considered the testimonies of the driver and owner of the truck.
"Accordingly, nothing material has come on record to disbelieve the testimony of the driver and owner and hence, the insurance company has failed to prove any statutory defence in its favour on record, " the court observed in the judgement passed on May 15.
Hence, it is liable to indemnify the owner/insured and to pay compensation to the petitioners, the court said.
Accordingly, the insurance company is directed to pay Rs 1,54,09,000 to the mother as compensation in this case, within 30 days from today.
The court said that failure to which, it would be liable to pay further interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum on the amount of Rs. 1,13,21,425.92 from the date of award till its realization.
It was stated that on September 14, 2017, the victim (Dr Ghufran Alam) along with his friend Dr Rajesh Rajpoot was travelling on a two-wheeler scooty, being driven by Dr Rajesh Rajpoot and the victim was sitting as a pillion rider in the back. When they reached Bangali Chowk, in front of Lal Flat, Sector-3, DSIIDC, Bawana, Delhi at around 9:30 pm, a truck plying ahead driven by its driver Balmiki Yadav at high speed and in a rash and negligent manner applied sudden brakes due to which their scooty collided with the said truck from the back side.
Following this, the victim and Dr Rajesh Rajpoot fell down and suffered injuries. They both were taken to Maharishi Valmiki Hospital for treatment.
However, they both could not survive and succumbed to their injuries. At the time of the accident, the salary of the deceased was more than Rs 92,000.
Driver Balmiki Yadav in his written statement denied the accident and stated that no accident had been caused by him and even otherwise, his vehicle was duly insured with National Insurance Company and liability to pay compensation if any is of the insurance company. Owner Jag Mohan Yadav filed no reply / written statement.
The National Ins. Co. in its written statement has not disputed the fact that the offending vehicle was insured with it on the date of the accident.
However, it had taken the plea that the driver was not holding a valid and effective driving licence at the time of the accident as he was driving a heavy goods vehicle (truck) whereas he was holding an LMV driving licence. Ins. Co. had further denied its liability on certain technical grounds.
However, it was proved that the driver was having a licence valid for driving HGV as of the date of the incident on September 14, 2017, whereas his driving licence was renewed on October 16, 2017.
