Woman claims Rs 80 crore for death of husband

A 34-year-old widow, whose husband had died in a road accident in 2009, has filed a compensation suit of R80 crore against a general insurance company and the owner and driver of the truck, which allegedly caused the accident. Sanjeev K Ahuja reports.

A 34-year-old widow, whose husband had died in a road accident in 2009, has filed a compensation suit of R80 crore against a general insurance company and the owner and driver of the truck, which allegedly caused the accident.

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Chhavi Bansal, a resident of Sector 57, is likely to file a separate compensation suit of R20 crore for the death of her 3-year-old daughter in the same accident, making the total claim to R100 crore, probably the highest-ever insurance claim sought under the Motor Vehicles Act.

Bansal was forced to resume her job with a multi-national company as a delivery manager after the demise of her husband Madhav Shenoy, 43.

Bansal, along with her husband and two daughters, was travelling in a Tata Safari at the time of accident. She claimed to have suffered injuries that led to permanent disability due to “shortening of her legs”.

She has sought a compensation for the loss of past, present and future income of her husband, who was drawing a monthly gross salary of R3.50 lakh as vice-president (networks) at Bharti Cellular Limited. “The couple and two their daughters met with an accident at 1am on May 27, 2009, on their way back home from Mussoorie. As their Tata Safari reached the Marwala More (Baghpat) on Delhi-Saharanpur Road, it collided with a truck coming from the opposite, but wrong side. Her husband died on the spot while one of her daughters breathed last after five months in coma.

Bansal and one of her daughters sustained serious injuries,” said Harish Malhotra, her lawyer. “Taking into account all monetary and emotional losses that I suffered, I have filed a suit in the court of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Gurgaon,” Bansal said.