Bombay HC allows vegetative girl’s father to withdraw Rs 1.15 Crore deposited by Railways – India Today

The Bombay High Court allowed the father of a vegetative girl to withdraw Rs 1.15 crore deposited by Western Railways.

The Bombay High Court allowed the father of a vegetative girl to withdraw Rs 1.15 crore deposited by Western Railways.

By Vidya : The Bombay High Court has permitted the father of a girl rendered vegetative after a road accident on Marine Drive in Mumbai to withdraw Rs 1.15 crore deposited by the Western Railway (WR).

Nidhi was crossing the marine drive on a pedestrian crossing to head to KC College on May 28, 2017, to take admission in Class 12 when a speeding Innova car hit her.

The car, owned by the railway, had seriously injured the girl. The court noted that Nidhi had suffered a 100% disability and never recovered.

In an interim order passed, the division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Gauri Godse noted that it could not view such matters with the “clinical coldness” of a civil suit.

“Here, human lives are at stake. Futures are at stake; Nidhi’s future has been completely extinguished. For this reason, we believe that an interim order is not only permissible but is absolutely necessary,” the court said.

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The Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal, in 2021, awarded Nidhi a compensation of around Rs 69 lakh. The WR’s senior section of engineering, signal construction, challenged the award.

WR claimed that Nidhi was not on the pedestrian and that she was allegedly using her mobile phone while crossing the road.

The court, in its order, said it would get into the factual aspects of the case later.

Advocate Saumen Vidyarthi, appearing for Nidhi’s father, told the court that the original compensation claim was Rs 2.22 crores and the tribunal’s order awarding compensation of Rs 69.92 lakh was on the lower side.

Vidyarthi informed the court that apart from the compensation awarded, the Railways had deposited Rs 1.50 crores in court, the interest of which was used by the victim’s family towards her expenses.

He further said that there was about Rs 1.15 crore still in court.

The bench permitted Nidhi’s father to withdraw the balance amount deposited by the Railways in the high court with all accrued interest after obtaining an undertaking from him that he would abide by the court’s final orders in the matter.

The court will be hearing the further appeal on October 17.

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