The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here in Maharashtra has awarded a compensation of Rs five lakh to the mother and sister of a teenaged boy who died in a road accident in the neighbouring Nashik district three years ago.
MACT member and district judge R N Rokade issued the order on October 9 and a copy of it was made available on Monday.
On November 10, 2018, the victim, then aged 14 and a resident of Mira Road in Thane, was returning with his family in a car from Shirdi after visiting the Saibaba temple there.
A bus coming from the opposite direction collided with the car on Sinnar-Shirdi road in Nashik and the boy died on the spot, the claimants - his 42-year-old mother and 9-year-old sister - told the tribunal.
The bus owner did not appear in the case, hence the matter was decided ex-parte against him, but the vehicle's insurer contested the claim.
After hearing the two sides, MACT member Rokade observed that new schedule of the law concerned makes no provision for determination of compensation based on the victim's age.
"Regardless of who the accident victim is, an adult or a minor, and whether the victim was an earning member or not, if the accident causes death, the compensation would be a fixed amount of Rs five lakh," he said.
Hence, the applicants are entitled for a compensation of Rs five lakh towards loss of dependency, the tribunal said. It ordered the offending vehicle's owner and the insurer to jointly and severally make the payment along with an interest at eight per cent per annum from the date of filing of the claim.
