CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has enhanced the compensation awarded to the family of a minor who died in a 2018 road accident during an alleged bike racing in Chennai, to Rs 16.77 lakh from Rs 11.35 lakh, after finding that the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) failed to consider the future prospects of the victim.
During the alleged racing on Mount Road, two bikes collided and the victim was thrown off the pillion seat of one of the two-wheelers. Later, he succumbed to injuries.
A division bench of Justices R Subramanian and R Sakthivel passed the orders on the petitions filed by the victim Yogeshwaran’s family and the IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Company Limited, respectively seeking enhancement of compensation and challenging the award of the tribunal.
The MACT, Chennai, passed the award in 2020 ordering payment of Rs 11.35 lakh to the family based on the notional income likely to have been earned by the victim.
“The notional income taken by the tribunal is on the lower side. The tribunal miserably failed to consider the fact that the deceased was 17 years old and a second year engineering diploma student,” the bench stated.
It directed the insurance company to pay the revised amount with accrued interest and costs within eight weeks.