The Tamil Nadu State Express Transport Corporation has been directed to pay a compensation of Rs 16.56 lakh to a 46-year-old accident survivor from Chennai. The orders came from the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Kancheepuram district.
According to a report in the Times of India, S Nirmala, who hails from Villivakkam in Chennai, had taken a bus from Trichy to Chennai in September 2014. The SETC bus she had been travelling on met with an accident when it rammed into a truck.
Nirmala, who was aboard the bus at the time, got stuck between the vehicles, sustaining injuries, including on her leg. Following the incident, the woman's leg had to be amputated. She had been working as a nursing teacher at the time.
When Nirmala claimed a compensation of Rs 61 lakh from the SETC for the reckless driving that caused the accident, the transport agency denied her claim. SETC had argued that the blame lay with the truck that had collided with the SETC bus, denying that the government driver had handled the vehicle recklessly.
However, the tribunal ruled in Nirmala's favour on Saturday after going through submissions by both parties, stating that her present disability must be accounted for.
In a similar case in October this year, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) was directed to pay a compensation of Rs 31.5 lakh to a passenger who was injured in an accident that took place on the East Coast Road (ECR).
Sales executive S Guruprasad had been travelling towards Puducherry from Chennai when the bus he was on collided with a truck. Even as the transport agency denied claims or reckless driving by the driver, the Tribunal observed that the petitioner himself was severely injured in the accident and underwent treatment for over a year and also had to endure four surgeries.