MACT awards Rs 1.56 crore to kin of Noida road death victim

A Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here has awarded over Rs 1.56 crore compensation to the family of a 26-year-old woman who was killed in a road accident in Noida.

Presiding Officer Pooja Aggarwal was hearing a plea filed by the mother and sister of Srishti Sethi against the driver, the owner, and the insurer of the offending car.

According to the claimants, on the evening of October 20, 2023, Sethi was near Sector 62 in Noida, returning home on a motorcycle with her colleague, Aditya Sharma, when a speeding car hit two other vehicles before crashing into their motorcycle from behind. Sethi died of wounds from the accident on January 2, 2024. The tribunal termed the driving “rash and negligent” in its order.

“It is a settled proposition of law that the petitioners cannot be expected to prove the accident beyond reasonable doubt, and the principle of res ipsa loquitur, i.e., ‘the accident speaks for itself’, is applicable, which implies that once it has been established in the chargesheet that the accident had taken place, the burden shifts on the respondents to prove that they were not responsible for the accident, which the respondents have failed to discharge,” the order dated April 7 read.

Rejecting the driver’s defence that his vehicle was hit by another vehicle and lost balance due to a tyre burst, the tribunal said the plea was unsupported by evidence.

“Except self-serving oral testimony, the respondent did not lead any evidence to prove the involvement of any other vehicle, nor is the existence of such a vehicle mentioned in the chargesheet,” the tribunal observed.

Relying on the eyewitness testimony of Sharma and the chargesheet, the tribunal held that the claimants had successfully established negligence by the driver and owner of the offending vehicle and entitlement to compensation on the touchstone of preponderance of probabilities.

On the issue of causation, the tribunal rejected the contention that the death was unrelated to the accident.

While a doctor testified that the accident was not the “direct cause” of death, the tribunal accepted that it was the “antecedent cause” leading to complications and eventual death, considering Sethi’s medical record that showed continuous hospitalisation since the accident till her death.

“... though she may have been discharged in stable condition as per the discharge summaries on record, no evidence has been brought on record by the Respondents to disbelieve that she remained under treatment as a result of injuries sustained by her in the accident, eventually leading to her death due to post-operative complications like septic shock,” the tribunal held.

The tribunal also dismissed the insurer’s argument of contributory negligence due to the alleged absence of a helmet, observing that no evidence was led to substantiate the claim.

Sethi was working as an associate project manager at a private firm in Noida, the tribunal noted while computing compensation. It noted that both her mother and sister were completely financially dependent on her, following the death of her father, and were entitled to compensation.

The tribunal awarded over Rs 1.56 crore, inclusive of interest, as compensation to the family of the deceased under various heads, including Rs 1.11 crore under loss of dependency.

Since the offending vehicle was insured at the time of the accident, the tribunal held the insurer liable to pay the full compensation amount within 30 days.