Man loses right toe in accident, court awards him ₹6L compensation

A man who lost the toe of his right foot in a road accident has been awarded a compensation of over ₹6 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

The victim, Chander Prakash Raghav, was 24 years old at the time of the accident, which took place on March 28, 2011, under the jurisdiction of Nabi Karim police station in central Delhi.

The tribunal, while awarding the compensation of ₹6,19,091, noted that the victim needs to be compensated for his pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, loss of expectation of life and loss of marriage prospects due to permanent disability.

According to the petition, Raghav had borrowed a friend’s motorcycle to go to Sadar Bazar along with another friend Kishan Chand on the day. The accident occurred when both of them were returning home. Chand was riding the bike and Raghav was riding pillion. A cyclist came in front of the motorcycle and in order to save him, Chand applied brakes. The two-wheeler then got hit by the side of a truck coming from behind.

Raghav claimed in his petition that he fell on the road and his right foot came underneath the truck, as a result of which he lost his toe. He was working as an electrician at that time .

During the proceedings, truck driver Charles Wilson refused to take responsibility of the accident. He submitted before the tribunal that the accident had taken place on account of Chand, who allegedly lost balance of the twowheeler and Raghav’s leg came under it. Same defence was taken up by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), owner of the truck.

The tribunal rejected all the contentions and decided the case in favour of the victim. It assessed the functional disability of the victim at 24% and noted that he remained incapacitated from performing normal activities for a considerable period.

It has directed the driver and MCD to pay the compensation amount, noting that they are jointly and severally liable to make the payment of compensation to the victim.