Compensation claims in road accidents need not be proven like criminal cases: Karnataka HC
Bengaluru, Aug 29: In cases related to compensation claims in road accidents, the case is not expected to be proved like a criminal trial, the High Court of Karnataka has said.
"It is well known that in a case relating to motor accident claims, the claimants are not required to prove the case as it is required to be done in a criminal trial. The court must keep this distinction in mind," the court said recently while dismissing an appeal filed by an insurance company challenging the compensation awarded to an accident victim's family.
The Division Bench of Justices K Somashekar and Rajesh Rai K was hearing two appeals -- one filed by Bajaj Allianz Insurance and another filed by Chikka Thayamma and Rame Gowda, the parents of one Divakar M R who died in an accident on August 13, 2019.
Divakar met with an accident near Durgaparameshwari Temple in Nagarabhavi while riding a motorcycle.
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A car is said to have caused the accident resulting in his death in a nearby private hospital where he was taken for treatment. Divakar was working in a bar and restaurant and earning Rs 18,000 per month.
The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) awarded compensation of Rs 15,43,600 to the parents of Divakar. They approached the HC seeking enhancement of compensation. The insurer approached the HC stating that the complaint about the accident did not mention the involvement of the car and it was the negligence of Divakar that had resulted in his death.
The HC, in its judgement, said strict proof of the accident need not be proved by the claimants for compensation.
"A holistic view of the evidence has to be taken into consideration by the tribunal and strict proof of an accident caused by a particular vehicle in a particular manner need not be established by the claimants. The claimants have to establish their case on the touchstone of preponderance of probabilities," the HC said.
Dismissing the appeal filed by the insurer, the HC said: "The standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt cannot be applied while considering the petition seeking compensation on account of death or injury in a road traffic accident. Therefore, the domain it is vested with the tribunal in appreciating evidence in terms of social justice and it should be extended and considered to a greater extent but not in conjectures and surmises but more credentiality must be given to that aspect.
The HC also found the compensation awarded by the MACT to be correct and dismissed the appeal of the victim's parents for enhancement.
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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