New Delhi: A Motor Accident Claim Tribunal
(MACT) has awarded a compensation of over Rs 23 lakh to an
aspiring model who became permanently disabled after
sustaining injuries in a road accident five years ago.
"Petitioner was also an aspiring model who had
participated in many fashion events and beauty pageants. The
petitioner has filed newspaper cuttings which show that he was
establishing himself as a model. He could have earned handsome
amount had he established himself as a model in terms of money
and fame," Swarana K Sharma, presiding officer of MACT, said.
The court directed two companies United Insurance Co Ltd
and New India Assurance Co Ltd to pay over Rs 23.66 lakh to
Anuj Sikka who suffered injuries following the road accident.
The court rejected a plea of the insurance company that
it cannot be presumed that Sikka, 20, would have become a
successful model.
"It will be unfair to a young man who has filed on record
adequate proof of his ability to have established himself as a
successful model, who unfortunately has become confined to bed
and has been totally disabled," it said.
The MACT computed the income of Sikka also taking into
account the fact that he was doing his B Com second year.
As far as his earning capacity was concerned, the court
said it was affected 100 per cent as he can neither speak nor
walk without assistance and needed an attendant 24 hours.
It also awarded Rs 1.73 lakh to Neelam Sikka, the mother
of the model, as she also sustained injuries in the
accident.
The court also directed an insurance firm to pay to
Neelam and Ajay Rs 4.18 lakh for the death of Neelam`s
49-year-old husband Ajay Kumar Sikka, who was working as a
manager with a private firm and was killed in the accident.
It had held the deceased 80 per cent negligent for the
accident as the car, which he was driving, had hit a
stationery tanker on Delhi-Jaipur highway, leading to his
death on March 27, 2005.
PTI
