Mumbai: Rs 3 cr for mother of banker who died in road mishap in 2016

Mumbai: In one of the highest compensations ordered in recent times, a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has ordered Rs 3 crore as compensation to the 65-year-old mother of a banker who died in a road accident in 2016.

Bhushan Jadhav, a vice-president with a private bank, was 38 at the time of the mishap. He earned Rs 23 lakh annually and was about to marry. Jadhav was travelling with his parents, brother-in-law and a friend from Kanjurmarg to Palghar in a hired Innova on June 14, 2016 when the accident took place at 8.30 am.

Deposing before the tribunal, his mother Rajani Jadhav, a Bhandup resident, said they had stopped the car to visit relatives at a village on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. A Mahindra pickup jeep, driven at high speed, had hit the car when her son and husband were sitting in the back seat. She said her son sustained serious injuries and died after three weeks during treatment at a private hospital in Mumbai. He died of cervical spine injury.

Tribunal member RV Jagtap held that the accident took place at 8.30 am and therefore it would not be prudent to hold the Innova’s driver solely responsible for parking the vehicle on the side of the highway. The Mahindra jeep was being driven at high speed, it observed, even though the Innova was obviously visible from a long distance.

The court said that while some negligence can be attributed to the Innova driver, major negligence and rashness is attributed to the driver of the Mahindra vehicle. It noted that as per record, the jeep hit a stationary vehicle from behind.

The tribunal considered the deceased’s age and position held at the time of the mishap. It ordered the Innova’s insurer, owner and driver to pay 30 per cent of the compensation and those of the Mahindra vehicle to pay the remaining 70 per cent.