18 March,2024 12:17 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
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The Thane Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has awarded Rs 49.32 lakh in compensation to the families of two deceased victims and five others injured in a traffic accident in 2018.
According to the petitioners' attorney SM Pawar, the victims, all Saibaba followers, were walking in a 'Sai Palkhi' procession towards Shirdi when they were hit from behind by a car near Devpur Phata on the Sinnar-Shirdi route, reported PTI.
According to the PTI report, MACT Chairman and Principal District Judge S B Agrawal issued a decision on March 7 that addressed seven cases involving the families of the deceased and injured victims.
The compensation, which includes interest at a rate of 7.50 per cent per annum from the date of submitting the claim, will be paid first by the offending vehicle's insurance company and then collected from its owner, the report added.
As per the PTI report, the parents of 19-year-old Aniket Deepak Mehatre, who died in the tragedy, received Rs 25 lakh in compensation. Aniket was engaged and paid a monthly salary of Rs 30,000 before his death.
Similarly, the mother and brother of Andru Anthony Kini (32), another accident fatality, received Rs 16,82,800 in compensation. Andru was earning Rs 50,000 per month when he died, the report added.
According to the PTI report, furthermore, the MACT ruled that a portion of the compensation be put in fixed deposits for a set amount of time, with the remainder distributed to the claimants.
In addition, five other people received compensation ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 4 lakh, depending on the severity of their injuries and the impact on their livelihoods, the report added.
Despite the vehicle's insurer's attempts to oppose the claim based on the driver's licence validity and suspected intoxication, the tribunal's ruling considered eyewitness testimony, police records, and the car driver's negligence.
Recently, in another incident, the Thane MACT had awarded compensation of Rs 1.49 crore to the family of a man who died in a road accident near Nashik in 2018.
On November 10, 2018, Nilesh Joshi, then 39 years old, passed away after the SUV he was riding in on Sinnar-Shirdi Road was struck by a bus next to a petrol station. The SUV's other five occupants perished in the collision as well, reported PTI.
According to the report, his kin told MACT that at the time of his death, he was employed by a private infrastructure company and earning Rs 1 lakh per month, in addition to Rs 75,000 from a separate consultant job.
