The Bombay High Court upheld Rs. 62 lakh compensation to the family of an SRK production house employee who died after a hit-and-run, stating, “Fair compensation ought to be the norm, though perfect compensation is hardly possible.”
The Bombay High Court stated while upholding the Rs 62 lakh awarded to the family of an employee from actor Shah Rukh Khan’s production house, who suffered injuries in a hit-and-run and later died, “Perfect compensation is hardly possible, but fair compensation ought to be the norm,”
A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Advait Sethna ruled on May 9 that there was no evidence of perversity, illegality, or irregularity in the November 2020 order issued by a tribunal, thus refusing to quash it.
The court emphasized that the Motor Vehicles Act is a “beneficial piece of legislation, and cannot overlook the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21, which involves the right to live a healthy life with dignity.”
Citing a Supreme Court judgment, the high court noted that while money cannot replace the loss of life, efforts must be made to provide compensation that reflects the damages incurred. The court deemed it necessary to uphold the Rs 62 lakh compensation awarded to the family of Charu Khandal, an animator with Red Chillies Entertainment.
The court described Khandal’s situation as a “heart-wrenching and tragic saga” of a young, aspiring professional who did not deserve the hardships she faced after the accident, which ultimately led to her death. Khandal, who worked on the VFX for Khan’s film “Ra.One,” died in 2017, five years after suffering paralysis from an accident in which a speeding car collided with the autorickshaw she was in.
At the time of the accident in March 2012, Khandal was 28 years old and returning from a celebration party for her team’s award win. The bench dismissed a petition from Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd, which had challenged the tribunal’s order.
Following the accident, Khandal’s family filed a compensation claim with the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal in June 2014, which awarded Rs 62 lakh in November 2020.
The insurance company argued that there was no connection between her death and the injuries sustained in the accident, claiming she died more than four years later. They asserted that the tribunal had wrongly assumed her death was due to her quadriplegic condition.
However, the high court rejected this argument, stating that the cause of death was septicaemia resulting from traumatic quadriplegia. The court also acknowledged that Khandal’s family incurred Rs 18 lakh in medical expenses.
Also Read: NGT Asks Activist for Proof of Violations in Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat Renovation
The bench found no flaws in the tribunal’s conclusion that Khandal, during her five years of paralysis, required an attendant and physiotherapy sessions.
It stated,
“It would be extremely harsh, excessive and rather too pedantic an approach in such matters of life and death if we are to assess every single medical bill with mathematical accuracy, which is not what the law would mandate,”
The bench concluded that the insurance company could not take a hyper-technical view to evade the insurance policy and deprive the victim’s family of what they rightfully deserve.