THANE: The
Thane Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (
MACT) has dismissed a compensation claim filed by a woman following the death of her husband in a bike accident in 2012.
MACT member and district judge K D Vadane observed that Nitin Shewale, had borrowed the motorcycle that met with the accident, from one of the respondents, so he was not a victim in terms of the motor accident claims.
The claimants were Shewale's 33-year-old wife, two minor children and mother, residents of the district's Murbad taluka. They filed the claim against motorcycle owner Vishal S Bhoir and Shriram General Insurance Company Ltd.
They said that on April 23, 2012 Shewale, a self-employed man earning Rs 3,000 per month, was riding the bike on
Kavahli-Saralgaon road. At Bhadanegaon, the bike slipped and he fell from it and sustained injuries which led to his death. The family sought the claim under the Motor Vehicles Act section 163A (the owner of the vehicle or the authorised insurer shall be liable to pay in the case of death or permanent disablement due to accident arising out of the use of vehicle).
The the insurer contested the claim, saying Shewale had borrowed the motorcycle, therefore he stepped into the owner's shoes. Thus, the claim was not maintainable, the insurer said.
"The (insurance) policy does not cover the risk of the owner and of an unpaid driver. It covers the risk of the paid driver only," the judge noted in his order on April 27, adding that in this case, Shewale was not a paid driver or workman of the vehicle owner. Agencies