Mumbai: Holding that the Motor Vehicles Act must be interpreted liberally to benefit families of accident victims, the Bombay High Court has ruled that a deceased man’s 60-year-old disabled sister can also be treated as a “legal representative” entitled to compensation in a motor accident claim case.
The court observed that the term “legal representative” should not be confined only to the spouse, parents, or children of the deceased, “as the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act is a benevolent legislation enacted for the object of providing monetary relief to the victims or their families”.
Justice Abhay Ahuja passed the order on May 5 while allowing an appeal filed by the deceased man’s wife and two children challenging the 2001 MACT order. The detailed judgment was made available on Friday.
The court enhanced the compensation payable to the family of a Thane man who died in a 1991 road accident from Rs 1.91 lakh awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) to Rs 8.80 lakh.
The accident occurred on August 27, 1991, when the deceased was riding his motorcycle from Thane towards Thane-Belapur Road. He was allegedly hit by a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus travelling from Thane towards Turbhe at high speed.
The family had argued before the High Court that the Tribunal wrongly held the deceased partly negligent despite eyewitness testimony showing that the MSRTC bus, while overtaking the motorcycle, dashed into it due to rash and negligent driving.
The MSRTC defended the driver, claiming the motorcyclist had attempted to overtake the bus despite warnings and lost control after swerving to avoid another vehicle and cattle on the road.
Rejecting the corporation’s stand, Justice Ahuja said the testimony of the passenger eyewitness, supported by the post-mortem report and spot panchnama, clearly established that the bus driver alone was responsible for the accident.
“The Appellants have proved that the deceased died in the accident… due to the rash and negligent driving on the part of the driver of the S.T. Bus,” the court observed.
The judge also held that merely because the eyewitness was related to the deceased did not make him unreliable. “Merely being a relative, close or distant, cannot decide that the witness is an interested witness until it is proved that the witness has a personal stake in the outcome,” the court said.
Importantly, the High Court ruled that the deceased’s disabled sister, Bhavani Shetty, was also entitled to compensation as a legal representative under the Motor Vehicles Act.
The court directed MSRTC to pay Rs 6.89 lakh with 9% annual interest to the wife, children and the deceased’s disabled sister, after adjusting amounts already withdrawn.
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