Kin of Uttarakhand road victims get 3 cr payout

New Delhi: The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has awarded Rs 3.07 crore as compensation to families of three men who died in a road accident while travelling from Noida to Kotdwar in Uttarakhand.

MACT Presiding Officer M K Nagpal awarded Rs 3,07,27,000 in total to the next kin of the three victims who were killed when their car collided with a tractor near Bijnaur in Uttar Pradesh nearly six years ago.

The tribunal held that the accident was a result of the "rash and negligent driving of the tractor" and directed the driver, owner and insurer -- the Oriental Insurance Company Limited -- of the offending vehicle to "jointly and severally" pay the compensation.

It clubbed together the pleas moved by the kin of the three victims and awarded varying compensation amounts to the families based on the income of the deceased.

On December 29, 2012, Sandeep Balodi, Satish Kumar and Deepak Kainthola were travelling along with two others in a Maruti car from Noida to Kotdwar when their car collided with a tractor coming from the opposite direction.

All five occupants suffered injuries and Balodi, Kumar and Kainthola were declared brought dead at the hospital.