NEW DELHI: It was a bright day in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo on December 23, 2019, when Yogesh Saigal, son of former Delhi chief secretary Omesh Saigal, went out sightseeing along with his family, wife, two kids aged 10 and 19 years, and father-in-law. Yogesh was happy as the family had long planned a holiday together.
However, fate had something else in store for him. Around 5.30 pm, the vehicle in which Yogesh (52) and his family were travelling met with a horrible accident.
The driver of the car in which they were travelling hit a stationary container truck leading to the death of his wife Tanu Priya, who was a senior professional with a leading news channel, his 10-year-old son and his father-in-law Ganga Prasad Vimal, a noted poet, writer and a novelist.
Yohesh and his daughter, though seriously injured with multiple fractures, managed to cheat death.
“I remained hospitalised for a long time and was not even able to attend the last rites of my wife and son,” Yogesh, a senior executive of an MNC said.
Yogesh said he was completely bedridden for six months. “What happened during the incident was that the travel company through which we had booked the journey was nowhere to be found. Forget compensation, they did not even offer an apology,” he said.
As soon as he was back on his feet, he began a protracted legal battle where he challenged the travel agencies, Thomas Cook and Red Apple Travel Pvt Ltd, and sought Rs 8.99 crore towards pecuniary damages from both negligence and deficiency in services. Thomas Cook has reportedly outsourced its services to Red Apple Travel Pvt Ltd in Sri Lanka.
After a long battle, which Yogesh said was even fought by his 82-year-old father, a three-member commission of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum gave their verdict in his favour and directed both companies to jointly pay `50 lakh to him in 3 months.
The commission, in its order, stated that it was of the view that there was negligence on the part of the travel company on account of the negligence of the driver by them. “The opposite party cannot be allowed to escape its responsibility and corresponding liability by stating that it was merely booking the places,” the order read.
Yogesh said he is satisfied to the extent that the travel firms have been held responsible. “There cannot be any compensation for the loss. However, I have got justice,” he said.