India News | SC Restores Rs 50.41 Lakh Compensation to Accident Victim Kin

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed an order against the grant of compensation of over Rs 50 lakh to the kin of a road accident victim.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said the Madhya Pradesh High Court order against the award was "cryptic".

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The compensation of Rs 50,41,289 was granted by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Satna district which had allowed the claim of the wife and son of the victim.

"We are surprised that in a first appeal filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the high court has made a short shrift of the matter and by a summary order reversed the detailed award passed by the MACT," said the bench.

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The top court said the appeal under Section 173 of the Act was in the nature of a first appeal and the "least" that was expected (by the high court) was a "careful marshalling of the oral and documentary evidence" placed before the MACT.

The top court's verdict came on the appeal filed by the victim's family members who challenged the high court's order passed in August, 2023.

The bench said it had considered remanding the matter for a fresh consideration by the high court.

"However, since the incident is of the year 2018, and already 6 years had elapsed, we felt that any further delay will only compound the agony of the already devastated family," it said.

The bench observed that the high court had set aside the award on the sole ground that the claimants did not bring evidence to prove the accident was with the truck implicated in the case.

It came on record, that the victim was working as an assistant post master in Tehsil Maihar and was at the driving wheel on his way back home when a rashly driven truck hit his a car on June 18, 2018.

The claimants said he was admitted to a hospital with a broken spine but succumbed to injuries on June 28, 2018.

After the MACT's awarded the compensation to the family members of the victim, the insurance company filed an appeal before the high court.

"Except for a bare assertion that the vehicle has been wrongly involved, the insurance company which has setup a plea of collusion has done nothing to make good its case. We find that the judgment of the high court is wholly untenable," held the apex court.

The MACT's finding that death was caused by the rashly driven truck was restored by the top court.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)