Insurance firm directed to pay Rs 86 L to kin of accident victim

The petition was filed under Section 166 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and rule 3 of the tribunal, claiming compensation of Rs 1.2 crore.

According to the petition, Vijayaraghavan, a senior engineer in an IT company, was riding a two-wheeler from Medavakkam to Perumbakkam when he was hit by a lorry from behind and sustained fatal injuries. P Jayaraman and J Premalatha, the father and sister of the deceased, filed the petition alleging that the lorry was driven by the driver in a rash and negligent manner.

Countering this, the L&T General Insurance Company Limited (now merged with HDFC-ERGO General Insurance) submitted that the petitioners have to prove that they were the legal heirs to the deceased, along with the income of the deceased through proper documentary evidence. “This accident has occurred to the rash and negligent act of the deceased, and the amounts claimed are exorbitant and excessive,” the insurance firm argued.

Recording the submissions, Judge V Sutha, who presided over the tribunal, ordered the insurance firm to pay Rs 86,16,700 to the kin of deceased. “While father and wife of the deceased should be awarded Rs 42,88,350 each, sister of Vijayaraghavan is entitled to a sum of Rs 40,000. The insurance firm has to pay the amount with an interest rate of 7.5 per cent per annum from the date of numbering of the petition (August 6, 2012),” the judge said.