Karnataka HC orders Rs 12,91,787 compensation for parents of child killed in 2016 road accident

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has ordered Rs 12,91,787 as compensation with 6 per cent interest to the parents of the deceased child as against Rs 5 lakh compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum said that merely because a chargesheet is filed against the rider as well as the driver of the offending tractor, that itself will not give rise to inference that the rider of the bike was also negligent and caused the accident.

The claim was filed by Suresh and Rajeswari, a couple from Manvi taluk of Raichur district. On December 16, 2016, Suresh was riding his motorcycle when a tractor collided with his bike and his four-year-old son died in the accident.

The tribunal relied on the chargesheet filed by the police and ruled that the bike rider and the driver of the offending tractor both had contributed to the accident. The tribunal apportioned the negligence in the ratio of 25:75 and granted Rs 5 lakh as compensation.

Justice Magadum noted that the tribunal had failed to properly assess the spot mahazhar of the accident.

“If the spot mahazar is looked into, this court has no hesitation to hold that it is the driver of the tractor, who lost control and came on the extreme right side from the opposite direction. The rider of the bike is in fact found on the extreme left side of the road. What needs to be looked into is that the spot where the accident has taken place is slightly curved. It appears that the driver of the tractor at the spot where the collision has occurred has probably lost control and has gone on the extreme side of the road and thereby giving no space for the rider of the bike who was proceeding in the opposite direction. The driver of the tractor had blocked the road,” Justice Magadum said.

The court further said, “Therefore, merely because there was a collision, the contributory negligence cannot be examined in the case on hand as the driver of the offending tractor was not only reckless but has come on the extreme right side and is solely responsible for the accident. These finer details are not at all looked into by the tribunal. By taking a holistic view and on presumption that since the rider of the bike is also being charge sheeted, it has proceeded to fix negligence on both the vehicles.”