Tribunal to owner of tanker and insurance company pay over ₹3 crore for death after accident

In an uncommon order, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal recently directed the owner of a private tanker and an insurance company to pay over ₹3 crore to the family a man killed in an accident after being hit by the tanker.

In an uncommon order, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal recently directed the owner of a private tanker and an insurance company to pay over ₹3 crore to the family a man killed in an accident after being hit by the tanker.

On December 6, 2018, one Mr Oscar was riding his scooter in Goa and Prashant Vishwasrao was sitting behind him. Suddenly a motor tanker came from behind in high speed and in a rash and negligent manner dashed into the scooter. Vishwasrao flung on the road and succumbed to his head injuries the same day.

He was 37 years old at that time and was working with Jaguar Security Services Private Limited as a Human Resources Manager and was vice president, zonal head, and head special operations on a monthly salary of ₹2,20,500 per month. The motor tanker was owned by Dina Tawade and has an insurance cover by National Insurance Company Limited. Vishwasrao was the sole breadwinner of the family, and the family sought a compensation of ₹6 crore jointly from the owner of the tanker and the insurance company.

The insurance company denied the age, occupation, and income of the deceased and denied that the accident took place due to the negligence of the driver. Vishwasrao’s cause of his death was “damage to chest, abdomen, pelvis and their underlying structures as a result of blunt force crushing impact.”

The Tribunal headed by SB Munde in January had jointly directed the owner of the tanker and the insurance company to pay jointly for ₹2 crore 54 lakhs to the applicants with interest @ 7% p.a. from the date of application till actual realisation of the entire amount. With interest the amount came down to ₹3 crore and 18 lakhs.

However, the insurance company wanted to file an appeal against the sum and urged the family to let go of some amount. Advocate Vishal Puri appearing for the family then filed the case in Lok Adalat in April and both the parties amicably settled agreed to reduce eight lakhs and agreed upon Rs three crore and ₹10 lakhs. The order of the same was available recently.