Delhi Motor Accident Claims Tribunal denies compensation to 8-yr-old injured in 2023 accident

It said the investigating officers failed to examine crucial circumstances and witnesses.It appears that on the balance of probability, the offending vehicle was involved in the accident and that it has been planted, it said.The judge observed that on the balance of probability, the motorcycle allegedly involved in the accident appeared to have been planted in collusion with the respondent.Holding that the petitioners failed to establish rash and negligent driving, the tribunal dismissed the compensation claim and the detailed accident report DAR.

A Delhi Motor Accident Claims Tribunal has denied a compensation claim filed on behalf of an eight-year-old boy injured in a road accident, saying that liability must be established through ''credible evidence'' and not merely based on a charge sheet.

Presiding Officer Vijay Kumar Jha was hearing a claim petition filed by Mohammad Dilshad and his wife Amreen seeking compensation for injuries suffered by their son Atif in a March 2023 road accident in Sundar Nagri.

In an order dated May 19, the Tribunal said, ''It is held that petitioners have not been able to establish, on the basis of the preponderance of probabilities, that the injured had sustained grievous injuries in the present motor vehicular accident because of rash and negligent driving.''.

According to the claimants, Atif, then eight years old, was crossing a road in Sundar Nagri on March 23, 2023, while holding his father's hand when a motorcycle allegedly driven rashly by Aftab hit him, causing serious injuries to his right kidney.

An FIR was subsequently registered at the Nand Nagri police station and a charge sheet was filed against Aftab under Sections 279 and 338 IPC.

The Tribunal found several contradictions in the evidence and testimonies.

It noted that hospital records did not support the claim of the child's father that he had taken his injured son to the hospital after the accident. Instead, the medico-legal certificate mentioned the names of persons identified as Shahid and Amir.

''Tribunal would have been under no obligation to conduct any further inquiry except quantifying the quantum of compensation and would have allowed each and every claim petition in which the charge-sheet would have been filed,'' the order said.

The Tribunal further found discrepancies regarding the identity of the offending vehicle and observed that the investigation was inadequate. It said the investigating officers failed to examine crucial circumstances and witnesses.

''It appears that on the balance of probability, the offending vehicle was involved in the accident and that it has been planted,'' it said.

The judge observed that on the ''balance of probability'', the motorcycle allegedly involved in the accident appeared to have been ''planted'' in collusion with the respondent.

Holding that the petitioners failed to establish rash and negligent driving, the tribunal dismissed the compensation claim and the detailed accident report (DAR).