Trigger Warning: The article mentions the death of a person.
The Bombay High Court has emphasized that while the correct compensation may be inaccessible, proper compensation should always be standard. The court upheld a compensation of Rs 62 lakh provided to the family of an employee associated with Shah Rukh Khan’s production company, which after injuries in a hit-end incident, D*Ed.
On 9 May, a division bench that included Justice Girish Kulkarni and Advaita Sethna stated that the Tribunal’s November 2020 order had no legal defects or irregularities and refused to overturn.
The Bombay High Court said that the motor vehicle act aims to act as a welfare-oriented law and insisted that the courts cannot ignore the constitutional right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Citing the example of the Supreme Court, the bench emphasized that while no amount can actually change the lost life, the losses that damage compensation should be given to properly addressed. The court reiterated that it may not be possible to get the correct compensation, but trying to try for a reasonable and appropriate should remain standard.
In this context, the court retained a prize of Rs 62 lakh to the family of Charu Khanda, an animator working with Shah Rukh Khan’s red chilli entertainment, which was D*Ed after maintaining significant injuries in the hit-end-run incident. The judges said that this compensation was minimum which could be done to give justice.
The Bombay High Court described the case as an “tragic and heart touching” account of a young, talented professional, whose life was unjustly cut off due to a terrible accident, which eventually led to his untimely death.
An animator, an animator who contributed to the VFX of Shah Rukh Khan’s film Ra.One, died in 2017. Five years after facing severe spinal cord injuries in the 2012 road accident in 2012, when she crashed into a sharp car in autorickshaw, she was traveling down to her, dropping her down from the neck. She was only 28 years old at that time and was returning from a festive party to win her team’s award.
After the accident, his family filed for compensation with the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in June 2014. In November 2020, the tribunal honored him with Rs 62 lakh in compensation.
However, the Insurance Provider, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited said, “Arguing that there was no direct connection between Khandal’s death and accident as she had died after more than four years.” The company also claimed that the tribunal had wrongly accepted that he died due to its IV.
The High Court strongly rejected these arguments, making it clear that he died due to septicemia, a situation directly arose from the trauma of being quadrilateral. The bench paid attention to Rs 18 lakh, which the family spent on their medical treatment and care.
Judges said that in case of prolonged victims and final death, assessing every individual bill in the final rupee would be an improper and highly rigid interpretation of the law. He emphasized that during the five years after the accident, the status of the family would require constant care, including a attendant and physiotherapy.
The court criticized the insurance company’s attempt to use extreme technical arguments to avoid its obligations, stating that such a strategy should not be allowed to stop the victim’s family from receiving the right compensation.
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