Tribunal orders payment of Rs 53 lakh compensation to kin of road accident victim

Thane, Oct 2 (PTI) The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Maharashtra's Thane has awarded a compensation of more than Rs 53 lakh to the family members of a 29-year-old man who died after being hit by a tempo while he was travelling on his motorcycle in 2022.

The accident had occurred on the Ghodbunder Road in March that year, and the petition seeking compensation was filed by the parents and brother of the deceased.

The Tribunal found the accident occurred solely due to the rash and negligent driving of the tempo driver.

Tribunal member R V Mohite passed the order The copy of the order dated September 26, was made available on Thursday.

The deceased, Sanchez Keith Peacock (28), was a senior representative of operations, at Convergys India Services Pvt Ltd. He was riding his motorcycle towards his Thane residence in the morning when a speeding tempo hit his vehicle from behind. Due to the impact, he fell off his motorcycle and died on the spot. However, the tempo driver fled without offering assistance.

The victim's family filed the petition against a firm that owned the tempo owner and the insurance company.

The insurance company contested the claim, arguing that the deceased was responsible for the accident as he was driving rashly, and that he and the tempo driver did not have valid licences.

However, the tribunal rejected these arguments, and concluded, "The accident occurred due to sole rash and negligent driving of driver of offending tempo. The opponent has failed to prove that accident occurred due to negligence of the deceased." Contributory Negligence Rejected: The Judge observed the evidence suggesting the deceased was proceeding on the left side of the road and there was no evidence to show any contributory act on his part.

Both the deceased and the tempo driver held valid driving licenses on the date of the accident. The goods permit for the tempo was also valid, it said.

"Thus, there is no breach of terms and conditions of insurance policy by the opponent owner," it said.

The tribunal awarded a total compensation of Rs 53,20,487 to the victim's family, including Rs 34,55,658 towards loss of future income and Rs 17,27,829 towards future prospects. It ordered the vehicle owner and the insurance company to jointly and severally pay the amount with an annual interest rate of 9 per cent from the date of the petition. PTI COR NP