MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court upheld the Pudukkottai Motor Accident Claims Tribunal’s decision to deduct 10% of the compensation amount of the victim towards ‘contributory negligence’ as he did not have valid driving licence at the time of the accident. The order was passed by a division bench of justices G Jayachandran and Sunder Mohan in an appeal filed by an insurance company in 2015, challenging the tribunal’s order dated July 31, 2014, to grant Rs 30 lakh compensation to the victim’s family.
The victim, who was working as a secretary in a cooperative bank, died on July 17, 2011, when his two-wheeler was hit by another two-wheeler coming from the opposite direction on the wrong side of Mathur to Illuppur road in Pudukkottai. The tribunal had directed the insurance company, with which the offending two-wheeler was insured, to pay Rs 30.18 lakh compensation to the victim’s family after deducting 10% towards contributory negligence as the deceased rode the two-wheeler without a valid driving licence. The insurance company filed an appeal against the decision by claiming that the compensation amount was excessive.
The division bench, citing SC judgments, upheld the tribunal’s decision to deduct the victim’s compensation by 10% for not possessing a valid driving licence. It also adjusted the compensation amount further with respect to ‘loss of income’, ‘loss of love and affection’ and ‘loss of amenities’ etc and fixed the final amount at Rs 25.47 lakh with a direction to the insurance company to pay the modified amount to the deceased’s family with interest, within six weeks.