Courts ‘can be liberal’ in accident claim case

A Division bench comprising Justices V. Ramasubramanian and N. Kirubakaran passed the significant order while dismissing an appeal preferred by the National Insurance Company and enhancing from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 34.87 lakh the compensation awarded to L. Paulraj, a fisherman of Kanyakumari district who had suffered cent 

percent disability. 

Justice Kirubakaran said the fisherman was seriously injured, when a mini lorry in which he was travelling along with his fishing boat capsized on May 6, 2004, due to rash and negligent driving. The victim, then 36, was operated for spinal fixation in Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences in Thiruvananthapuram. When the surgery was about to begin on May 11, he developed cardiac arrest in the operation theatre. 

He was revived and the operation was conducted a week later. The claimant was immobile and therefore, he was unable to appear before the tribunal even for giving evidence. It was disheartening to note that the claimant suffered serious injuries in the accident leading to a vegetative status. “The tribunal should not have confined the compensation to the claim of Rs 25 lakhs despite finding that the victim was eligible for more compensation,” the judge said. 

Justice Kirubakaran said irrespective of the claim made, what had to be awarded should be just and proper compensation. “The award can be even more than the compensation claimed and therefore this court enhances the compensation to console and comfort the victim.” The judge directed the insurance company to deposit Rs 34.87 lakh in a nationalised bank and ordered that the victim could withdraw Rs 15 lakh immediately and leave the balance in a fixed deposit for at least three years and withdraw the interest alone once in three months for his livelihood.