KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has observed the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) cannot attribute contributory negligence on the part of a deceased pillion rider of a motorcycle for the simple reason that he was not wearing a helmet and deduct compensation on that count. The court, however, said the verdict is not a licence to ride motorcycles without a helmet.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan passed the order on a petition filed by Kadeeja Musaliyar of Malappuram, wife of deceased Mohammedkutty Vaidyakkaran and others challenging the order of MACT, Tirur. The tribunal had found that since Mohammedkutty — riding pillion — was not wearing a helmet conforming to prescribed standards at the time of the accident, 20% of the compensation has to be reduced attributing contributory negligence on the part of him.
The court pointed out that as per Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, every person riding a motorcycle of any class, has to wear protective headgear. Admittedly, Mohammedkutty did not use a helmet.
HC sets aside MACT finding
MACT’s duty is to assess the compensation arising out of an accident. The Supreme Court had observed that for attracting contributory negligence, there must be either a casual connection between violation and accident or a causal connection between violation and impact of the accident on the victim. Simply because a person is not wearing a helmet and there is a violation of Section 129 , the tribunal cannot attribute contributory negligence on the part of the deceased or the injured. Therefore, the finding by the tribunal to the effect that there is contributory negligence on the part of the deceased is to be set aside.