Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed an insurance company to pay an additional Rs 6.37 lakh to the family members of the victim of a road accident, modifying an earlier order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal that ordered a compensation of Rs 3 lakh.
Justice Rabindranath Samanta directed Oriental Insurance Company to also pay 6 per cent interest on the additional amount from the date of filing of the claim application, and 6 per cent interest on Rs 3 lakhs also from the date - June 27, 2000, till this amount was deposited by it. The accident family's family received Rs 3 lakh from the insurance company several years back.
The court directed the company to deposit the newly awarded amount of Rs 6,37,200 and the interest component by cheque with the Registrar General of the high court within five weeks from the date.
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Justice Samanta directed that after the money is deposited, the registrar general will release the amount to the claimants in equal shares as expeditiously as possible. Arati Mondal, the mother of deceased Gopal Mondal, had claimed before the court that her 24-year-old son was a bus driver and he died after another bus being driven rashly rammed into his vehicle from the opposite side near Thakurpukur in South 24 Parganas district, causing fatal injuries to him on April 28, 2000.
It was stated that he earned Rs 6,000 per month. The tribunal had awarded a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the mother of the unmarried victim in June 2004, the high court noted in its judgement.
The mother moved to the high court claiming that the compensation awarded was inadequate. Arati Mondal died during the pendency of the appeal and was substituted by her husband and daughter in her place.
Justice Samanta said that as per observations of the Supreme Court, the age of the deceased and whether the person died unmarried or married will be the basis for applying a multiplier for calculating compensation based on the annual income of the victim. He directed that a multiplier of 18 will be applicable in this case instead of six as was adopted by the tribunal. (PTI)
