Man to get Rs3.54 lakh relief 8 years after road mishap

Eight years after a Khed resident was hit by a Maruti van – the mishap left him with a permanent disability – in 2006, the Bombay High Court recently directed the errant driver and the New India Assurance Co. Ltd to jointly pay of Rs3,54,000 towards compensation.

Setting aside the order of the Maharashtra Motor Accident Tribunal (Khed), which rejected Sanjay Bedekar's relief plea, Justice M R Bhatkar said, "The inference is wrongly drawn on the basis of incorrect appreciation of the evidence, especially on the point of the manner in which the accident has taken place."

On March 21, 2006, Bedekar was going from Khed to Chiplun on a bike when a Maruti van coming from the opposite direction hit him. Bedekar, then 36, claimed that the man behind the wheel, Mohan Gejage, was driving recklessly. He raised a claim of Rs5 lakh spent on his treatment. The mishap left him with a permanent disability.

The tribunal though considering that Gejage was acquitted in the criminal case by the magistrate court held that Bedekar was not able to prove that Gejage was driving in a rash manner and negligently and denied compensation. This order was challenged in the high court.

Considering the facts on records, the HC noted that the tribunal had failed to consider that Gejage was not holding a valid licence at the time of the accident thus holding that the charge of rash and negligent driving was not proven was erroneous.

The court observed that medical records of Bedekar show that he had to be treated for over six months at different hospitals. Accordingly, the court held that Bedekar has to be compensated. The HC has also directed that Bedekar be interest at the rate of 7 per cent per annum on the compensation amount (Rs3,54,000) since 2006.