Delhi tribunal awards Rs 2.52 crore to family of doctor killed in Okhla bus accident

A motor accident claims tribunal in Delhi has ordered New India Assurance Company to pay Rs 2.52 crore to the family of Yaseen Khan, a 30-year-old doctor who lost his life in a road accident in Okhla in May 2023, reported TOI.

Presiding officer Shelly Arora noted that compensation in such cases cannot be treated as a mere formality, nor should it amount to a windfall for the family.

“In a case of death, the legal heirs of the claimants cannot expect a windfall. Simultaneously, the compensation granted cannot be an apology for compensation,” she observed.


Khan, a senior resident doctor earning Rs 1.4 lakh a month, is survived by his wife, parents, two young sons and another child who was born four months after his death. The tribunal, after hearing eyewitness testimony, concluded that rash driving by a bus driver caused the fatal accident.

According to the report, the order also underlined that proceedings under the Motor Vehicles Act are distinct from regular civil suits, stressing that claims must be assessed in a practical manner rather than through rigid application of the Indian Evidence Act.

Advocate Sumit Chaudhary, representing Khan’s family, argued that the accident and involvement of the bus driver were undisputed, and highlighted the severe financial and emotional strain placed on the dependents after Khan’s untimely death.

New India Assurance Company did not contest the cause of the accident, paving the way for the award of compensation, TOI further reported.