Lawyers blink as killer Porsche has no insurance documents

A senior police official admitted on condition of anonymity that the insurance for luxury sports car Porsche Cayman S owned by Charan Kumar with a Delhi registration had expired in July 2016 and the present owners had failed to renew it. 

The car which was reportedly driven by racing champion Vikash Anand in the early hours of September 19 on Cathedral Road, rammed into a row of autorickshaws parked along the roadside killing one person and injuring several others after the driver, who was inebriated allegedly lost control of the vehicle. A number of autorickshaws parked there were also damaged. 

The vehicle’s uninsured status has dashed the hopes of Maisha, the 7-year-old daughter of Arumugham, the deceased auto driver, receiving any compensation for the loss of her father. Seenu, the child’s uncle who is now taking care of the girl told this newspaper that since the car did not have a valid insurance, lawyers were unwilling to fight the case on their behalf. “With no advocate coming forward to help us, I am really worried about getting any compensation for the death of Arumugham as the accused is the son of a senior SC lawyer,” he said.

The luxury car’s uninsured status has thrown light on the lack of importance given by traffic police and transport authorities to penalise uninsured vehicles. Advocate VS Suresh, who is a specialist in accident cases, told DTNext that when a vehicle does not have third party insurance cover, the courts usually direct the vehicle owners to pay compensation for the loss. “But, if the party refuses to pay then there are no stringent laws to punish them. The concerned party could simply leave the country for a while and avoid paying compensation leaving the victim with no choice,” he said. 

According to the Motor Vehicles Act, it is mandatory for all vehicles above 50 cc capacity to be insured, and violators are punished with a fine. Legal experts feel that the courts should bring a change in the Motor Vehicles Act with regard to uninsured vehicles involved in accidents. They claim that the law could force the police to collect a certain deposit amount before releasing the seized vehicle back to the owner and compensate the victim. It’s the least that the system could do to ease the pain of the victims. 

Vikash and his friend Charan Kumar were returning home after attending a party at around 3.30 am on September 19 when the mishap took place. As many as 13 auto rickshaws were damaged, besides killing Arumugham and critically injuring another auto driver, Bharathan. 

With the vehicle’s uninsured status now being confirmed, the family members of Arumugham, Bharathan and the owners of the other damaged vehicles are staring at a long wait before they get any compensation for their loss.