Pune: A city Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) on Thursday awarded over Rs77 lakh compensation separately in a 2016 case wherein on August 19, a medical professional couple on a motorcycle was killed after a car driving on the wrong side hit their vehicle in Lohegaon.The tribunal also recorded a legal battle between the maternal and paternal families of the couple’s son over guardianship and control of the compensation amount, most of which would be protected in fixed deposits in the minor’s name until he attained majority.MACT member Bandopant Digambar Kulkarni passed separate awards in the connected petitions. The tribunal awarded Rs62.8 lakh compensation in the case related to the man, who worked as a casualty medical officer in a hospital. It awarded Rs14.8 lakh compensation in the connected petition relating to his wife, who worked as a clinical assistant in a prominent hospital. The woman had died the same day, while the man succumbed to his injuries a few weeks into his treatment.The tribunal held the car driver negligent, while noting that a JMFC court had convicted him to three months imprisonment in the connected criminal case in 2017. The tribunal directed the insurer and vehicle owner to jointly and severally pay the compensation with 7% annual interest, excluding a specified period during which proceedings were delayed because of a dispute between the paternal and maternal grandfathers.While deciding the compensation claims, the tribunal also dealt with the dispute between the child’s paternal and maternal grandfather — with both sides claiming they were looking after the minor boy after the death of his parents. The tribunal, however, clarified that it had no jurisdiction to decide custody disputes. It noted that a civil court had already appointed the paternal grandfather as guardian and the order would remain binding, unless set aside by a competent court.
