Kerala: Rs 5.65 crore claim awarded to businessman's kin
It also considered the savings he had and the properties he owned before awarding the claim.
Kochi: The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kollam, on Friday awarded Rs 5.65 crore to the relatives of an NRI businessman who died in an accident in 2012. This is the highest-ever compensation awarded by a tribunal in the state. It is also one of the highest-ever accident claims awarded in the country. Earlier, a sum of Rs 5.9 crore was given to actor Jagathy Sreekumar as compensation in a case. That amount was arrived at as per a settlement in a pre-adalat. MACT judge P. Mayadevi awarded the compensation to Lucy Sunno, wife of deceased Sunno Xavier, and four of her relatives, including sons.
Sunno owned four companies in the UAE providing employment for 200 workers and had worked in Sharjah for 30 years. The tribunal awarded '3.98 crore with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from 2013, the date of the filing of the petition. Sunno was on vacation and on June 24, 2012 while travelling along with his friend in his car driven by another friend, there was a head-on collision with another car at Kollam. All the three died instantaneously. It was alleged that the accident occurred due to the negligence of the driver of the other car. The tribunal verified the ownership certificates of the deceased through a retired Arabic professor of MSM College, Kayamkulam.
It also considered the savings he had and the properties he owned before awarding the claim. Advocate Manoj appearing for his relatives argued that due to the unexpected demise, the entire business operations of the four companies had come to a standstill and his young son in his early twenties was forced to take over the affairs even though he lacked experience. He also submitted that Sunno’s wife is a cancer patient and a daughter is differently-abled. Lucy had sought a compensation of Rs 10 crore.