Chandigarh: Nine years after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Haryana’s Sonipat district, Pushpa is still awaiting compensation. Her husband, Raghbir, died on 19 November 2017 after an unknown vehicle hit him near a mall on GT Road and fled. The vehicle was never traced.
Under the Solatium Scheme, 1989, framed under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, victims of hit-and-run accidents in which the offending vehicle cannot be identified were entitled to compensation of Rs 25,000 in the event of death and Rs 12,500 for grievous injuries. The scheme was replaced by the Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, which came into force on 1 April 2022 and raised the compensation for death to Rs 2 lakh and Rs 50,000 for grievous injuries.
After the Sonipat Motor Accident Claims Tribunal dismissed Pushpa’s claim petition on 31 May 2019, the matter reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. On 28 September, Justice Harsh Bunger directed the governments of Punjab and Haryana and the Chandigarh administration to submit data on hit-and-run cases reported under the 2022 scheme up to 30 September 2026.
The data must specify how many cases have been decided, how many remain pending and the status of compensation payments in decided cases.
“Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State of Punjab, State of Haryana as well as the U.T., Chandigarh, are directed to place on record the requisite data with regard to the number of ‘hit and run’ cases reported after implementation of the 2022 Scheme, up to 30.09.2026,” the court said.
The court was informed that an FIR was registered at Kundli police station in Sonipat on 5 April 2018 under IPC Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304-A (causing death by negligence).
Pushpa’s case is against the General Insurance Corporation of India. Advocate Krishan Kumar Thakur appeared on her behalf.
Counsel for the Chandigarh administration submitted an additional affidavit dated 28 September, filed by Lakshay Pandey, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Traffic (R&D), Road Safety, Chandigarh. The court took the affidavit on record, subject to all just exceptions.
Haryana’s counsel sought time to file an affidavit addressing Pushpa’s individual claim. Satbir Singh Goripuria, Deputy Advocate General, Haryana; Nirmaljit Singh Diwana, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Punjab; and Avinit Avasthi, Additional Standing Counsel for Chandigarh, appeared in the matter.
The court directed the authorities to do the “needful” be done on or before the next hearing, scheduled for 28 October.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)