MADURAI: Lok Adalat granted relief to a couple, who lost their 17-year-old son in a road accident in 2018, by directing the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) to pay Rs 28.2 lakh solatium to them in a month.
S Sundaravalli, the mother of the victim S Ashok Kumar, told TNIE that her son was a first-year engineering student in a college near Kariapatti in Virudhunagar. “On September 4, 2018, at 5.40 pm, my son boarded a government bus from his college. The driver took the bus without checking whether he safely entered or not. As a result, my son lost his balance, fell down from the footboard, and died. The driver was playing songs in high volume too,” the mother alleged.
Sundaravalli and her husband Senthil Kumar had approached the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal of Madurai seeking compensation in 2018. The tribunal disposed of the petition last year by directing TNSTC to pay Rs 23.83 lakh, challenging which the latter has recently filed an appeal in the HC.
When the matter was taken up during the National Lok Adalat conducted by the High Court Legal Services Committee on Saturday, a Bench headed by Justice R Vijayakumar, retired district judge A Subramanian and advocate S Mohammed Moideen, settled the issue by directing the TNSTC to pay the amount. The couple thanked Lok Adalat, and added nothing could replace their son but hope that from now on, bus employees take the necessary steps to avoid such incidents.