A Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has directed the owner of a truck and an insurance company to pay Rs. 5.12 lakh to a 69-year-old labourer whose three toes were amputated and two fractured after the reversing truck ran over it in 2017.
The accident took place around noon when Abdul Khan was walking on the road in APMC Market, Vashi. The front wheel of the rashly reversing truck had run over his left foot, he had said in his complaint. The driver had fled the spot. An FIR was registered regarding the incident.
The owner of the truck did not appear before the tribunal and the insurance company denied allegations. It said that there was a breach of its terms and conditions as the driver did not have a valid license during the accident. It had also denied that Khan suffered disability due to the accident.
Abdul Khan had been admitted in hospital for around two months and incurred bills of Rs. 81,000. A doctor who had deposed before the tribunal told it that on examination clinically and radiologically, he had found tenderness, deformity and scarring of the left foot and toes. The movements of the toes were restricted and painful and the first, second and third toes of the left foot had to be amputated. Further, he stated that Khan was unable to squat, stand or walk for long and unable to perform day-to-day activities. He assessed that the Trombay resident had suffered 65 percent permanent partial disability.
During cross-examination by the insurance company’s advocate, the doctor had however, conceded that he was not the treating doctor and had assessed the extent of disability from Khan’s medical papers.
The driver of the truck who was presented as a defence witness by the insurance company told the tribunal that he had fled the scene out of fright as a mob had gathered. He had also produced his driving license before the tribunal. The tribunal thus stated that the insurance company’s contention that it was not liable to pay compensation as the driver did not hold valid license held no ground.
While deciding compensation, the tribunal took into consideration Khan’s hospital bills, medical receipts and pain and suffering undergone among other factors. It noted that the crash injuries he suffered to his toes implied that it would definitely affect his ability to work as a labourer.
