Mumbai, December 15: After 16 years of a determined and dogged campaign for justice, Shweta Mehta, 27, can look forward to a financially independent life. On Monday, the Bombay high court directed the New India Assurance Company to pay Mehta Rs49.48 lakh (without interest) as compensation for an accident in 1993 that left her paralysed waist down. She was 11 then.
A division bench of justice Sharad Bobde and justice SJ Kathawalla also directed the insurer to pay interest ranging from 7.5% to 12% for different years from December 2002 till the time the compensation is disbursed.
“The appellant [Mehta] has lost out on several pleasures of her childhood and adolescence, including the ability to move, run, and play freely, as other children do,” the judges observed. “She was a bright and promising student, yet her condition may now become an impediment to not only her success, but also to everyday living. Added to this is the physical and mental suffering caused by her medical condition. Even looking after personal hygiene has become difficult for her.”
In August 2007, the motor accident claims tribunal had awarded Mehta a compensation of Rs21.23 lakh. Though the insurance company deposited the amount, it moved the high court.
The high court, however, enhanced the compensation. In a 26-page verdict, it granted Rs23.25 lakh towards inevitable expenses, Rs18 lakh for future expenses, Rs7 lakh towards loss of amenities of life, the physical pain and mental shock that she endured, and Rs1.23 lakh for fighting the case in the tribunal.
The court directed the insurer to pay up the difference of Rs28.25 lakh (with interest) to Mehta. After adding the interest, the total amount to be paid to her comes to nearly Rs80 lakh.
Of the Rs49.48 lakh, Rs41.25 will be deposited in a nationalised bank as fixed deposit. “The appellant shall be entitled to draw interest from the fixed deposit to take care of her future expenses,” the court said.
The judgment has come as an eye-opener for the insurance company which had earlier refused to compensate Mehta claiming that the accident was, in fact, a “blessing in disguise for her”.
“The accident for the girl was a blessing in disguise as she could get better education and also compensation,” the company’s lawyer had told the high court last month. The court found the submission in bad taste.
Mehta had filed a appeal seeking revised compensation of Rs91 lakh. Her advocate Tejpal Ingale had argued that she deserves a higher compensation as she is paraplegic with a permanent disability.
–Agencies–