E-Paper
Chandigarh: MACT awards ₹22 lakh to kin of man killed in mishap
The deceased was working as a truck driver with Chandel Filling Station, Jabli, Solan, and was earning around ₹25,000 per month
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Chandigarh, has directed an insurance company, a pick-up truck driver and its owner to jointly pay ₹22,98,120 compensation to the family members of Gurpal Singh, 42, who died in a road accident in 2021.
Meena Kaur, 40, wife of Gurpal Singh, and her two teenage children of Kiratpur Gura village, Panchkula, filed a case against Vijay Kumar of Solan, who was driving the pick-up truck. The petition was also filed against the truck’s owner, Chandel Filling Station, Himachal Pradesh, and insurer, the New India Assurance Company Limited, Chandigarh.
On August 25, at 6.30 pm, Gurpal Singh was coming from Una on a tanker for delivery of petrol at Chandel Filling Station, Koti. As he reached there, he went outside of the petrol pump. At that time, a pick-up truck was reversed by Vijay Kumar, who rashly and negligently struck against Gurpal Singh who was standing behind the said pick-up.
Gurpal came under the rear wheel of the pick-up and suffered serious head injuries, a fracture of the left leg and other multiple injuries. The deceased was taken to Panchkula civil hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The deceased was working as a truck driver with Chandel Filling Station, Jabli, Solan, and was earning around ₹25,000 per month.
The owner and driver of the truck, meanwhile, filed a petition stating that a false FIR was registered. “The accident had occurred with another vehicle but the claimants and the police in collusion with each other had falsely implicated the answering respondent in the present case,” they said.
The insurance company also filed a written statement in which it claimed that the driver was not holding any valid driving licence, the registration certificate and fitness certificate of the vehicle and route permit. Therefore, there was a violation of the terms and conditions of the insurance policy, it added.
After hearing the arguments, MACT awarded the compensation in favour of the claimants and against the respondents, who shall pay the compensation jointly along with interest @ 7% per annum from the date of petition till its realisation.
