Let’s dive into a recent court decision involving a bus accident in Nashik. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) challenged a compensation award, but the court decided to uphold it. Here’s what happened.
On August 29, 2017, around 1:30 AM, Sanket Dattatraya Mistri was on a bus heading to Pune. It was drizzling, and the bus, speeding through Narayangaon, crashed into a parked tempo. The tempo's driver had taken precautions, like turning on indicator lights and placing stones around it, but the bus driver didn’t notice and collided with it.
Sanket suffered serious injuries, including a head injury and fractures. He was first treated at Siddhi Multi Specialty Hospital in Narayangaon and later moved to Apollo Hospital in Nashik. His medical expenses totaled around Rs. 1,00,000.
A crime was registered at the Narayangaon Police Station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act. Sanket, a professor earning Rs. 72,000 monthly, claimed Rs. 2,25,000 in compensation for his injuries and other losses.
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Nashik awarded Sanket Rs. 90,429, including interest, for the damages. The MSRTC appealed this decision, arguing that the tempo driver was also at fault.
"The tempo driver had followed the rules... no negligence could be attributed to him," the tribunal noted.
The MSRTC filed an appeal, claiming the tempo driver was at fault for parking improperly. They argued that the driver should have been part of the proceedings. However, the tribunal found the bus driver, Santosh Jaisingh Guldagad, responsible for the crash.
Justice Aarti Sathe reviewed the case and decided the tribunal’s judgment was well-reasoned. The court found that the bus driver was indeed careless, and the compensation amount was fair, considering the evidence and medical expenses.
"The amount awarded is fair and not too much," the court concluded.
The appeal was dismissed, and Sanket was allowed to withdraw the awarded amount with interest. The MSRTC was ordered to pay if they hadn’t deposited the amount yet.
The verdict was that the court upheld the original decision to award compensation to Sanket, finding the bus driver responsible for the accident.
