Kanjhawala hit-and-run case: Court grants Rs 36 lakh compensation to family of deceased

By Dhiraj Beniwal
New Delhi [India], October 30 : Delhi's Rohini court awarded Rs 36 lakh compensation to the family members of deceased Anjali. She was allegedly hit and dragged for several kilometres by a car in the Kanjhawala area. She had died in the accident.
The incident took place in the intervening night of December 31, 2022 and January 1, 2023. Her scooty was hit by a car on New Year's Eve. An FIR was lodged at Police Station Sultanpuri.
Mother and siblings had approached the court seeking compensation. A claim petition was filed through advocate Manak Chand.
District Judge -1 Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) Vikram, after considering the evidence on record, held, " The rashness and negligence on the part of the driver (Amit Khanna) of the offending vehicle, which is clearly visible and as such, was responsible not only for this accident, but also for everything that followed thereafter."
The court said that the involvement of the offending vehicle of Lokesh Prasad Sharma in the accident is not disputed. The offending vehicle was traced on the basis of CCTV footage.
At the time of the accident, Amit Khanna (driver) was not having a valid driving licence, the court noted.
"I award compensation of Rs. 36,69,700 (Rupees Thirty Six Lacs Sixty Nine Thousand Seven Hundred Only) alongwith interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of DAR on 03.04.2023 till compliance and at the rate of 12% per annum thereafter," District Judge Vikram ordered on October 27. (Judgement Uploaded today evening)
The court has directed the insurance company (Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Ltd.) to deposit the award amount within 30 days in the account of the Tribunal's Bank Account at Rohini Courts, Delhi.
However, the court has granted the right of recovery from the accused Amit Khanna and Lokesh Prasad Sharma, as the driver was not having a valid driving licence.
As per Detailed Accident Report (DAR) are that in the intervening night of 31/01.12.2023 at about 02:45 Am SHO, PS Sultanpuri, who.was present on main Kanjhawala Road, was informed by staff that one scooty, a black shoe, one black & white colour scarf, one ear pod and some broken plastic pieces of scooty were lying on the road.
SHO Police Station (PS) Sultanpuri reached the spot. During the pending inquiry, a PCR call was received at PS with respect to a female body lying on the main Kanjhawala Qutabgarh road.
The body was shifted to SGM Hospital, and the dead body was identified as Anjali. An FIR for an offence punishable under Section 279/304 A IPC was registered at PS Sultanpuri.
During investigation, statement of eye witness Nidhi, friend of deceased, injured in the connected DAR, was also recorded who stated that on 01.01.2023 after celebrating New Year she alongwith deceased left the
hotel at about 01:45 am on the scooty of deceased and at about 02:10 am when they reached at Shani Bazar Road, a Baleno car, grey colour coming from the other side hit their scooty due to which Nidhi fell on the right side and deceased came under the car. The driver of the offending vehicle dragged the deceased several kilometres with the offending vehicle.
As per DAR and the investigation conducted by the investigation officer (IO), Amit Khanna was driving the offending vehicle in a negligent manner, which caused the accident resulting in the death of the deceased. Amit Khanna was charge-sheeted for offences under section 279/304A IPC.
As per DAR, the deceased was survived by her mother, Rekha, two minor sisters and one minor brother, who were dependent on the deceased.
During the hearing, Amit Khanna did not file a reply despite the opportunity granted. However, Lokesh Prasad Sharma (car owner) filed a reply stating that the offending vehicle was insured with Bajaj Allianz.
He admitted that Amit Khanna did not have a valid Driving licence (DL) at the time of the accident.
It was claimed that the deceased was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The quantity as per the FSL report was 128.7mg/100 ml, and the accident occurred due to the negligence of the deceased.
During the hearing, the mother of the deceased admitted that the deceased used to spend her time out of the house due to her event management work, or that she had not filed any documents to show that the deceased was doing work in event management. Though it did not file any documents to show that the deceased was earning Rs. 20000 per month.
The petition moved by Nidhi has been dismissed for non-appearance. The criminal case against the accused persons in pending before the Rohini court and is at the stage of Prosecution evidence.