NEW DELHI: A Delhi tribunal has awarded Rs 69.61 lakh in compensation to the family of a 54-year-old army personnel who died in 2021 after his motorcycle was struck by a rashly driven truck.
The Delhi Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) Presiding Officer, Anjani Mahajan, passed the order on a petition filed by the wife and four children of the deceased, Bal Kishan, after the driver of the vehicle chose not to explain the circumstances of the accident and avoided stepping into the witness box.
In its order, the tribunal also noted that the mechanical inspection report revealed bloodstains on the left front tyre of the offending vehicle. Both the driver and the owner, however, failed to explain the presence of the bloodstains if they were not caused by the accident.
“The petitioners have established on the touchstone of preponderance of probabilities that the accident in question took place due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle,” the tribunal said in its order dated February 20.
The failure of the driver and the owner of the offending vehicle led the court to draw an adverse inference against them.
A negligently driven truck struck Kishan’s motorcycle near Kidwari in Chandhut on the afternoon of October 29, 2021, while he was travelling from Andhop, Palwal, to Sihol, Palwal. Due to the impact, his motorcycle fell, and he sustained fatal injuries. He was taken to Civil Hospital, Palwal, where he was declared dead.
The tribunal directed ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd. to deposit the compensation amount, noting that it was the insurer of the offending vehicle at the time of the accident. The tribunal awarded `69.61 lakh in compensation to the family under various heads, including `66.85 lakh towards loss of dependency, after observing that all five claimants were dependent on the deceased.