The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has upheld a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal award that granted a compensation of ₹ 1.05 crore to the family members of a woman who died in a road accident in Madurai in 2010.
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The court was hearing an appeal preferred by the Reliance General Insurance company and the Oriental Insurance company against the award of the tribunal. The tribunal had awarded a total compensation of ₹ 1,05,52,621.
In 2010, four members of a family who were living in Canada -- Thomas John, Jessie John, Shawn John and Sheena John -- had come to India on a vacation. The vehicle in which they were travelling met with an accident on Tirumangalam four-way road.
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A 10-wheeler truck which was going in front of the car suddenly took a right turn without any signal. The truck occupied the entire stretch of the road and the car rammed into the truck. The family members were injured.
They were rushed to the Government Rajaji Hospital. Jessie John succumbed to her injuries. Thomas John, the husband of Jessie John, is a doctor by profession and Jessie John was a manager in a medical firm. Shawn John and Sheena John are their children.
The Tribunal concluded that the negligence could be apportioned at 70% and 30% between the drivers of the truck and the car respectively. After making a suitable deduction for income tax, the Tribunal took the annual income of the deceased at 34,880 Canadian Dollars. The total award by the tribunal came to ₹ 1.05 crore
A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and N. Sathish Kumar observed that the Tribunal had taken only the employment income of 40,000 Canadian Dollars per annum and after deducting income tax paid, the Tribunal had fixed the annual income of the deceased at 34,880 Canadian Dollars.
The court said that it was unable to find fault with the Tribunal for having fixed the annual income of the deceased at 34,880 Canadian Dollars. The Tribunal considered the evidence in the right perspective and had apportioned the negligence at 70% and 30%, the court said and directed the insurance companies to deposit the compensation as apportioned by the Tribunal within eight weeks.