Advocate awarded Rs 1 lakh compensation for injuries suffered in accident 6 yrs ago

Thane, Sep 4 (PTI) The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal here has awarded Rs 1.09 lakh compensation to an advocate injured in a 2018 road accident, against her original claim which she worked out at Rs 10 lakh, noting she did not suffer from a permanent or functional disability.

There is no evidence to show the advocate is unable to do her practice due to the accidental injury. There is no future loss of income to the claimant, the tribunal, the MACT, presided over by member RV Mohite, said in the order on August 30.

A copy of the order was made available on Thursday.

The claimant told the tribunal that she was injured when a car allegedly "came from behind with high and excessive speed and driven in a rash and negligent manner", and dashed against her scooty in Kalyan town of Maharashtra's Thane district on November 10, 2018.

Her petition sought a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, restricted up to Rs 1 lakh, along with interest for the injuries suffered in the accident.

The tribunal observed the accident took place due to sole negligence of the car driver.

The car owner did not produce a copy of the driving license, hence the tribunal inferred the driver was not holding a valid license at the time of the accident.

On the advocate's injuries, the MACT said, "The evidence on record proved that the accident occurred due to sole negligence of the driver of the offending car...but there is no permanent partial disability or functional disability to the claimant." It rejected the advocate's claim of Rs 75,000 monthly income.

The tribunal observed that her income tax returns from the assessment year 2019-20 showed "no effect on income of claimant due to accidental injuries".

Since the claimant failed to provide "any cogent evidence" of her income at the time of the accident, the tribunal assessed her notional income at Rs 15,000 per month.

"There is no evidence to show that the claimant is unable to do her practice as an advocate due to the accidental injury. Thus, there is no future loss of income to the claimant," it said, while awarding a compensation of Rs 1,09,516.

The tribunal also ordered a 9 per cent annual interest on the amount, payable from the date of the petition.

It ordered both the respondents to jointly and severally make the payment. It further directed the insurer to make the payment and then recover the same from the car owner. PTI COR GK