HC awards Rs 83.40 lakh to doctor who suffered 75% blindness in road accident | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: About two decades after a doctor was almost blinded in a road accident, the Bombay High Court ₹83.40 lakh compensation along with interest rate of 7.5% per annum on them.

Dr. Madhuri Sahastrbuddhe approached the Supreme Court after the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) awarded her a meagre compensation of ₹2.90 lakh for the serious injuries she sustained in the road accident.

The accident occurred on November 18, 2005, when Madhuri, who had completed her internship in Kolhapur after completing her MBBS, was travelling to Mumbai by car with her family.

A scorpion coming from the opposite direction at high speed crashed into her car, injuring all members of her family.

Dr. Sahastrabuddhe lost her eyesight and suffered a mobility disability that affected her ability to move. On September 12, 2019, the court issued the order on her accident claim and concluded that the SUV driver was responsible for the accident and the doctor was no longer able to walk and/or do her job properly – she could no longer practice her medical profession and her movements were restricted.

The court further stated that she would find it difficult to read, cross the road, see vehicles from the right and carry out her profession, but concluded that the visual impairment would only affect her earning capacity by 10% and ordered that Oriental Insurance Company Ltd – the insurer of the SUV owner, a city businessman – pay her compensation of around ₹2.90 lakh

She appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the court had reached the wrong conclusions and had failed to take into account that she was approximately 75% blind, which is considered legal blindness, and that her ability to work was severely impaired.

A single-judge bench of Justice Arun Pednekar accepted their arguments on June 24 and said that the doctor was entitled to compensation of around ₹86.30 lakh and directed the insurance company to pay her the remaining amount of ₹83.40 lakh, plus interest @ 7.50% per annum from the date of filing her accident claim, in eight weeks.