Centre, NHAI told to pay compensation to parents of driver who died after tree branch fell on his vehicle

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to pay a compensation of ₹16.78 lakh to the parents of a driver who died after a huge tree branch fell on the van he was driving on a highway in Kanniyakumari district in 2011.

The court was hearing the petition filed by S. Nilavathi and P. Selvamani, parents of the driver. Their son Manikanda Vasan was employed as a driver in a private firm. On 13 August, 2011, at about 6 a.m., when he was driving a van carrying stones, a branch from a tree fell on the van and he sustained head injuries. The van fell into a dry canal.

With the help of the public, the tree branch was removed and Vasan was rushed to Asaripallam Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagercoil. However, he was declared as brought dead. The petitioners said that the accident occurred due to the negligence of the authorities and sought appropriate compensation.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan observed that the postmortem report of the deceased revealed that he died due to head injury. The tree branch fell on the van and crushed the roof of the vehicle. The authorities had failed to remove old and weak trees that posed a threat to the vehicle users. It amounted to negligence on their part. On account of the failure to discharge their statutory duties resulting in tort, the authorities were liable to pay compensation, the court observed.

The court said the authorities were duty bound to maintain the trees and prune the weak branches and trees to protect the road users. The court held the authorities were jointly and severally liable to pay the compensation to the petitioners.

Published - November 25, 2024 08:19 pm IST