This one of the highest compensation amounts awarded in accidental death cases in the state
Mumbai: Confirming that a surviving widow’s independent employment does not extinguish her status as a legal representative or her entitlement to compensation, in two separate orders recently, a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), awarded a total Rs 21 crore to the families of two senior Hindustan Unilever Ltd managers who lost their lives in the same Mumbai-Goa highway crash in 2018. This one of the highest compensation amounts awarded in accidental death cases in the state.
In the first instance, the family of 43-year-old Girish Barve, a factory manager whose annual gross salary was Rs 95 lakh, was awarded a compensation of Rs 14 crore, including interest. His widow, earned a monthly salary of approximately Rs 42,000. In both instances, 40% of the compensation was awarded to the wives with the remaining divided between the children and parents of the deceased. The accident took place on July 1, 2018, on Mumbai-Goa National Highway-66 near Dabhil School in Khed taluka of Ratnagiri district.
Observing that the women’s earnings were substantially lower than their husbands’, the tribunal said, “Matrimonial households cannot be approached by assuming that each earning spouse exists in an economically watertight compartment. The deceased’s income necessarily contributed to the family’s standard of living, housing, education, savings and security. Barve was driving the car in which colleagues Wadalkar, Vishal Matle and Rajesh Joshi were travelling. A tanker, driven by Vaibhav Bhoyate and owned by Shreyash Transport, came from the opposite direction and collided head-on with the car.
Barve, employed with the company for 20 years, suffered severe cranio-cerebral and other injuries and died on the spot. He was shifted to Bombay Hospital on July 2, 2018, but succumbed to his injuries on July 11, 2018. He had been employed for around 15 years.
Wadalkar survived the initial impact and was taken for emergency treatment to BKL Walawalkar Hospital in Chiplun.