HT Correspondent

chandigarh@hindustantimes.com

Mohali : The widow and son of a 77-year-old retired colonel who was killed in a road accident two years ago will be paid ₹24.72 lakh as compensation, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Mohali, has ruled.

The tribunal, presided over by Girish, said the amount will be paid with 6% interest, “jointly as well as severally” by Oriental Insurance Company; Mohinder Pal and Rohtas Kumar, the Ambala-based driver and owner, respectively, of the car that hit Col Tajinder Singh Randhawa near the new Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT), Mohali, as he was walking towards Balongi. He died later in hospital.

The claim, filed by late Col Randhawa’s Amritsar-based widow Sarabjit Kaur Randhawa and son Gagandeep Singh, on December 23, 2017, said the 77-year-old retired army man was walking from Dara Studio, Phase-6, Mohali, towards Balongi at about 9.30 am when a Maruti car hit him near the new ISBT. After being taken to the civil hospital in phase 6, from where he was referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and then moved to Indus Hospital, Phase-1, Mohali, Col Randhawa succumbed to his injuries on December 31, 2017.

Even as Mohinder Pal and Rohtas Kumar denied before the tribunal that the accident had taken place, representatives of the insurance company said it was not liable to pay compensation as the vehicle was driven in contravention of terms and conditions of the insurance policy. They also said that the company had not been informed.