Woman disabled in accident given Rs 1 crore compensation
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court has directed an insurance company to award a compensation of Rs 1 crore to a woman after she became 100% disabled in a motor accident near south Delhi’s Defence Colony in 2015.
The court, while enhancing the compensation amount from Rs 16 lakh awarded by a tribunal, ordered the company to provide a latest model of electronic wheelchair for the free movement of the woman.
Justice Najmi Waziri’s order came after the 36-year-old woman had moved court against the motor accident claims tribunal order awarding her Rs 16 lakh after assessing her functional disability at 20% after the accident.
In her plea filed through advocate Ankur Chibber, the woman said she was not given the loss of earnings during the time of her treatment and for loss of future prospects.
In 2015, the woman, then 32 years old and an MBA, was on her way from office. When her car was near a fuel station in Defence Colony, the vehicle ahead of her applied brakes suddenly. She applied brakes but a car speeding from behind crashed into her vehicle, causing her serious and extensive injuries.
She was rushed to Fortis Hospital at Shalimar Bagh. She suffered 90% permanent disability in her left lower limb.
The insurance company gave her Rs 16,57,484 as compensation towards “loss of compensation for medical expenses, compensation for pain and suffering , compensation for attendant charges, special diet & conveyance , loss of future earning capacity/future income, compensation for loss of amenities and enjoyment of life, compensation for disfigurement, loss of income during treatment and a wheelchair worth Rs 1,50,000.
However, the highc court noted that the 90% disability of the left lower limb made her permanently wheelchair-bound — i.e. she would require the assistance of a person throughout her life to move about and would be deprived of the simple pleasure of being able to walk or to enjoy the felicity of free movement by an able-bodied person.
“...Her left leg was the only limb with which she used to walk but now even that leg has become non-functional. So she is effectively 100% disabled, apropos both her lower limbs. Therefore, in respect of the whole body, her functional disability should be taken as 90%,” the court said in its order dated September 18, which was uploaded on the Delhi high court’s website on December 18. HT has accessed a copy of the order.
The court said the woman was a young woman of 32 years of age and had just started her independent corporate consultancy. It said it would take her some time to build a clientele and goodwill for herself, before she could be assured of a minimum amount per month.
The court then ordered that she be given Rs 1,09,00,429 as losses towards her disability, including other losses. It said, “Presently, her parents and her sole brother may be able to take care of her but with change in circumstances, she may be all by herself.Therefore, she would require an attendant round the clock for her lifetime.”
It directed the insurance company to pay the woman throughout her life the minimum monthly wages of a semi-skilled person and the latest model of a mechanised wheelchair.