The parents of a person dying in a road accident, even if residing separately or at their native place, are entitled for compensation as they are “dependents” under the Motor Vehicles Act, the Bombay High Court has said.
“The deceased / son are also entitled for filial consortium for loss of love, affection, care and companionship of the deceased child,” Justice Arun Pednekar said.
The court added that in the ordinary circumstances in the Indian Social system, parents are dependent on their child to take care of them in their old age, irrespective of the fact that they would be staying in the villages / native place away from the son.
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by an insurance company challenging the award granted by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) to the family of a man, who was killed in a road accident in 2010, including to his parents.
On July 25, 2010, at 10.30pm, Mulund resident Virendra Sahani, was crossing a road when he was knocked down by an auto. He succumbed to injuries six days later. The MACT allowed the Claim Petition filed by Sahani’s wife, two minor children and his parents, who used to stay in the village. The tribunal held that the autorickshaw driver was negligent in driving, leading to the accident. As Sahani’s income could not be proved, the tribunal considered it at Rs6,000 per month, considering he was a skilled labour. Hence, it directed Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. to pay Rs14.14 lakh as compensation to the Sahani family.
The insurance company challenged this before the HC contending that Sahani’s income was erroneously taken at Rs6,000 per month. Also, it claimed that his parents were residing separately and as such were not dependent on him, and hence were not entitled to compensation.
The high court, referring to a Supreme Court judgment, said that in the absence of full dependency of the Claimant on the deceased, the liability to pay compensation to the legal representatives does not cease. Hence, the legal representative would be entitled to file a claim. Then it is up to the tribunal to decide the extent of dependency of the claimant.
“The arguments of the Insurance Company that the claim cannot be filed by the parents of the deceased as they were staying separate from the deceased in a native village, (and) as such were not dependent on the deceased cannot be accepted and the same is rejected,” Justice Arun Pednekar said on July 30 while dismissing the insurance company’s appeal.
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