Kerala - Kozhikode   

Tribunal dismisses claim by accident victim

Kozhikode: The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Kozhikode has observed that insurance companies should be more vigilant against false claims. It made the observation while dismissing, with costs, a petition seeking Rs.2 lakh as compensation for injuries that the petitioner claimed he sustained when a car collided with his two-wheeler.

The tribunal also observed in the order that since a substantial amount was being collected as premium by insurance companies they were duty-bound to help customers.

The petition was filed by Balakrishnan in Kozhikode against Sreedharan Nair, a retired divisional manager of Life Insurance Company, residing on Panikker Road, and Oriental Insurance Company.

The complaint was that the car driven by Sreedharan Nair hit the motorcycle driven by the complainant and he sustained injuries in the accident at Patteri junction on April 2003.

Dismissing the claim tribunal judge K.P. Sujatha observed there was no substance in the complaint and ordered the petitioner to pay Rs.3,000 to Sreedharan Nair as costs.

The court accepted the argument of Sreedharan Nair who argued the case himself.

He said that he had taken the petitioner to the hospital in the same car and arranged medical help.

The court did not accept the argument of the petitioner that his motorbike was hit by the car coming from the opposite direction since there was no evidence of a head-on collision.

The tribunal noted that nobody would be willing to assist an accident-victim lying injured on the road, if they are required to face complaints and pay compensation to the victim.

The order of the MACT was made available recently though it was passed in February.

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