Family of MTNL employee get nearly 42 lakh compensation

The family members of a MTNL employee, who died in a road accident in 2009, have been awarded a compensation of nearly Rs 42 lakh by a motor accident claims tribunal (MACT) here.

The tribunal directed Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd, with which the offending car was insured, to pay a total compensation of Rs 41,85,256 to the kin of 48-year-old Rukmani Devi, who had died in the accident here on December 10, 2009.

While awarding the compensation, the MACT did not accept the contentions of the driver and owner of offending vehicle that the accident had taken place due to the negligent driving of the husband of the deceased.

"I hold that petitioner (kin of the deceased) succeeded in proving that on December 10, 2009 an accident had taken place due to rash and negligent driving of offending vehicle which was being driven by R1 (driver of the car)," MACT Presiding Office B S Chumbak said.

The order came on a petition filed by the husband and two children of the deceased, who said that Rukmani was travelling on a motorcycle driven by her husband, and when they reached Laxmi Nagar here, a car being driven in a rash and negligent manner hit their two wheeler from behind.

They said that due to the impact of the accident, Rukmani fell down on the road and sustained grievous injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to injuries.

The tribunal awarded the compensation observing there were no reasons to disbelieve the testimony of Rukmani's husband, who was driving the two wheeler.

It also held that the driver and owner of the offending vehicle had failed to place on record any evidence to show that the accident did not took place due to rash and negligent of the car's driver.