Chennai sources have stated that the Madras High Court has come to the rescue of a mother who has been fighting for nearly 25 years to get compensation for the death of her son, a truck driver, in a road mishap. Lokeswaran died on May 18, 1993, following a head-on collision with a bus. His mother first moved the competent authority (Commissioner) under the Workmen's Compensation Act for compensation but lost the claim.
Meanwhile, when negating the objection of an insurance company, Justice N Seshasayee of the Madras High Court confirmed the compensation of Rs 3,47,000 with interest passed by the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal or MACT. Further, the judge noted that the Workmen's Compensation Tribunal had not even felt it their duty to compute the value of the loss of a life.
Moreover, the tribunal also had not analyzed if the mother of the victim can be blamed for the fault of the doctor who did the autopsy and deny her compensation. Further, as regards the doctrine of election cited by the insurance firm to object to the claim of the victim's mother, the judge noted that it would operate only when the forum of the first choice had conclusively quantified the compensation payable and it was not applicable to the present case.
