The Thane Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Maharashtra has awarded a compensation of Rs 12.29 lakh to a 37-year-old doctor who received grievous injuries in a road accident in 2009.
MACT member and principal district judge Virendra G Bisht last week ordered the offending vehicle’s owner and the New India Assurance Company Limited to jointly and severally make the payment to Dr Gulrez Rahimoddin Mansuri.
The claimant, who worked as regional medical officer at a well-known hospital, told the tribunal that he was returning from Lonavla (hill station in neighbouring Pune district) to Mumbai on his motorcycle on November 12, 2009 when a trailer hit his bike on Panvel-Sion road.
He received severe injuries in the accident and was advised complete bed rest for six months.
He told the tribunal that he spent over Rs 4 lakh on medicines, hospitalisation and other expenses, and lodged a claim of Rs 50 lakh against both the opponents.
The trailer’s insurer opposed the claim, saying he was riding the motorcycle in a rash and negligent manner due to which he lost control over the wheels and his vehicle dashed against the trailer which was moving at moderate speed.
The insurance firm further said no permanent disability was established on record by the claimant.
After hearing both the sides, judge Bisht said Mansuri claimed permanent partial disability to the extent of 62 per cent. “But there is no scientific evidence to satisfy the conscience of the tribunal in the absence of evidence of a medical officer for it,” he said.
But, it is clear from the claimant’s evidence that he took treatment at different hospitals for his grievous injuries, the judge said while awarding him Rs 12.29 lakh compensation towards medical expenses, loss of income, pain and sufferings and other costs incurred by him.
