A 26-year-old youth, who suffered visual impairment and severe mental disability after a mini bus hit his motorcycle in 2011, has been awarded compensation of nearly Rs 40 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

The tribunal directed IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company Ltd, which the offending RTV bus was insured, to pay Rs 39,89,648 to Binesh Kumar, who had filed the case through his father due to his permanent physical and neuro psychological disability.

"In view of physical visual disability and in view of cognitive disability, the loss of earning capacity for the claimant would be 100 per cent. This claimant will not be able to take any vocation to earn anything for himself," MACT Presiding Officer Arun Bhardwaj said while deciding the amount of compensation.

The tribunal also said the driver of the offending vehicle had admitted that he had run away after the accident and this fact "speaks volumes about his conduct".

"It was noted that there is nothing on record to show that the claimant (Kumar) had any enmity with the driver of the offending vehicle so as to falsely implicate him in the case," it said.

Kumar in his petition had said that the accident took place on August 5, 2011 when he was returning home in the evening on his motorcycle and suddenly an RTV bus hit him in Dwarka Sector-23 here.

Due to the impact, he fell down and received multiple injuries especially on his head and fell unconscious, Kumar said, adding that somebody had called the police and he was taken to a hospital.

The tribunal noted that as per the report of Institute of Human Behaviour and Applied Sciences (IHBAS), the victim was suffering from "significant cognitive disfunctioning, particularly severe impairment in all memory functions, indicating organic brain pathology".

Kumar, who was 23-year-old at the time of the accident, was working with a private firm as HR and administration manager in Gurgaon and was earning Rs 25,000 per month.

The bus driver and owner had claimed in their written statements that the accident was not caused due to their vehicle and they were falsely implicated in the case by the police.

The tribunal, however, refused to accept their contention, saying they failed to appear before it during the proceedings to prove their defence.

SOURCE: Times of India