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Mumbai: Vehicle tire blowout is not an act of God. The Mumbai court has ordered the insurance company to pay compensation to the family of the deceased as the driver was negligent.
On October 25, 2010, Patvardhan (38) traveled from Pune to Mumbai by car with 2 friends. The car, which belonged to one of the friends, was speeding and its rear tire burst and overturned in a nearby ditch. Patwardhan died on the spot.
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The car involved in the accident was insured with New India Assurance Company. In 2016, the Motor Accident Compensation Tribunal, which heard the case, ordered the insurance company to pay Rs 1.25 crore to Patvardhan’s family. It passed the judgment noting that the only income earner in the family had died.
Against this order, an appeal was filed in the Bombay High Court on behalf of the insurance company. Hearing this, Justice SG Thike (Single Judge Bench) dismissed the appeal.
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The amount of compensation is high: Subsequently, an appeal was again filed on behalf of the insurance company in a bench of additional judges in the Bombay High Court. It said, “The amount of compensation is very high. And the burst car tire was an act of God. The negligence of the car driver is not the reason for this,” it said.
The trial court dismissed the petition. In the order issued by the judges in this regard, “The condition of the tire should have been checked by the driver or the owner before travelling. A tire blowout is neither an act of God nor an act of nature. There are various reasons for a vehicle tire blowout, including air pressure and heat. It is human negligence. Therefore, compensation of Rs. 1.25 crore should be given to the family of the person who died in the accident.
