Bengaluru: The High Court has upheld the order of the Motor Accident Compensation Tribunal (MACT) which held that the victim vehicle passengers are also liable for 50% of the negligence when bikers on a triple ride were involved in a road accident with the car.
The HC bench headed by Justice N. S. Sanjay Gowda dismissed the separate appeals filed by the car’s insurance company that the liability of total negligence should be placed on the bikers. In the case, the bike riders and the car driver filed complaints against each other and the police filed a charge sheet in connection with the complaint filed by the car driver. But police filed B report to court regarding the complaint lodged by the motorcycle riders.
In such a case, to prove the negligence of the bike rider, the car driver has to be tried. As a result, a good witness who could have been able to determine who was responsible for the accident was unavailable to the tribunal. Therefore, the MACT Act, which makes the car owner and the bike rider equally liable, is appropriate. The order issued by the tribunal to deduct 50% of the compensation amount and pay the remaining amount to the injured is appropriate and the High Court dismissed all the appeals stating that there is no need to interfere in it.
C. Mahendra, B. S. Jagadish and B. H. Vishwas all natives of Mandya were riding on a bike near Mahadevapura in Bangalore. There was an accident between Shivakumar Raghavan’s car and bike and all the three people on the bike were injured. The injured had applied to MACT for compensation. The owner of the car, Shivakumar, was absent from the hearing. The trial court awarded Rs 2,02,000 to Vishwas and Rs 1,47,000 to Jagadish. and Rs. 15000 to Mahendra Prasad. The relief was announced and ordered on January 17, 2018. However, in the order, MACT was of the opinion that the negligence of the bikers was also responsible for the accident, and the negligence was 50:50 on the bikers and the car owner and the compensation amount should also be liable for both parties. The MACT directed to the company that had insured the car to pay 50 percent to the injured.
The injured, who had appealed to the High Court challenging the MACT order, contended that it could not be considered negligent just because three people were riding on the bike. As the car driver was not investigated, the action of the tribunal which fixed 50% negligence on the bike rider is not correct. Therefore, the compensation amount was requested to be increased. On the other hand, the insurance company also filed an appeal, saying that when the accident occurred, three people were riding on a bike. The Police, who investigated the case based on the complaint filed by the car driver, submitted a charge sheet against the bikers. Without considering any of these factors, the tribunal fixed only 50% liability on the insurance company. Therefore, it was pleaded that the liability of negligence should be placed squarely on the bikers.