N. Soundararajan, 31, a sculptor, was killed in an accident on April 15, 2012. In his death, his family of father, mother, wife and two children had lost the breadwinner.
And with that the hopes of a bright future for the two young ones.
Soon after his death, Soundararajan’s widow Nagamani, 29, filed a petition seeking compensation from the owners of the car that hit him. A private insurance company was also involved. The amount sought for was Rs. 15 lakh.
Since the petition was filed, there were more than 10 adjournments and little hope that the case would be solved soon.
Sensing that things could take longer than the expected time, advocates representing Nagamani and the insurance company – P. Munuswamy and S. Balasubramaniam – decided to approach the Lok Adalat to seek a mutually acceptable settlement.
Mr. Munuswamy said that the two advocates filed a joint petition to settle the case through the Lok Adalat, which was scheduled for Saturday.
And as the petition was accepted, the two parties were present at the Adalat and settled the matter in front of retired District Judge S.A. Sree Ramulu and members K. Gajendran, a doctor, and P. Muthaiah, a retired banker.
Soundararajan’s family got around Rs. 6 lakh in compensation.
The family is happy that it has received the money because it was afraid that the litigation would continue for long, said D. Eswaran, Soundararajan’s cousin.
This was one of the 50-plus cases that the Lok Adalat settled on Saturday. According to sources, claims worth Rs. 50.90 lakh were settled at the Adalat.
Mutual consent
The District Legal Services Authority had been conducting regular Lok Adalat and also mega Lok Adalat to settle cases that had been pending for long and also those that could be settled by mutual consent.
