In a recent ruling in Delhi Court has mandated an insurance company to compensate Rs 1.98 crore to the parents of a young man who tragically lost his life in a 2016 road accident. The incident involved Siddharth Sharma being fatally struck by a speeding Mercedes driven by a minor, resulting in his demise despite medical efforts

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) judge and presiding officer, Dr. Pankaj Sharma, stated in the judgment that Siddharth's tragic death on April 4, 2016, was a result of negligent driving by a minor.

Siddharth Sharma was crossing the road in the Civil Lines area of Delhi when he was struck by a speeding Mercedes car. The court highlighted that the accused, Manoj Aggarwal, knowingly allowed his minor son to drive, disregarding the safety of road users. The judgment emphasized that Aggarwal's actions, including past instances of allowing his minor son to operate a vehicle, demonstrated a reckless disregard for potential consequences

The court noted that instead of preventing his minor son from driving the car, Manoj Aggarwal chose to ignore the matter. It was revealed that he was at home when the accident occurred and did not intervene to prevent his son from taking the car out for leisure.

The court took into consideration the fact that Siddharth Sharma was pursuing higher education at the time of his death. He was 32 years old. He was earning a salary of Rs 25,000 in January 2015 and got a job offer with a higher salary of Rs 10 lakh per annum in March 2016.

On the basis of these things, the court decided the amount of compensation to be given to Siddharth's parents. The court directed the insurance company to pay approximately Rs 1.21 crore as compensation and approximately Rs 77.61 lakh as interest. The total compensation taken together comes to Rs 1.98 crore.

According to a detailed accident report filed by the police, the minor along with six friends was driving the car recklessly and at a high speed. The accident was so strong that Siddharth jumped about 15-20 feet in the air and suffered fatal injuries after falling.

The court said the police had imposed IPC section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) in the case after watching CCTV footage, which showed dangerous driving by the minor.