It was a long wait for the family of Dr Tarikere Basappa Rajashekar, the well-known scientist from Bangalore who was killed in a road accident, but their patience paid off when the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) awarded them a compensation of Rs 32.78 lakh, in a judgment delivered on Thursday.

Dr Rajashekhar who was the Associate Chairman of the National Centre for Science Information (NCSI) at the Indian Institute of Science, near Budihal cross, Nelamangala, near Bangalore, was killed when his Maruthi van was hit by a tractor on June 3, 2005. His wife, Parvathi Rajshekhar, son Amith and daughter Anusha moved the MACT seeking compensation. Their advocate Hanuma Reddy told the tribunal that the deceased was 51 years old and had 11 years of service left and that he was earning Rs 40,800 a month.

Justice Talikote while ordering the insurance company to pay compensation of Rs 32.78 lakh with an interest of 6 per cent from the date the case was filed. The compensation claim was made about a year ago by the family and the entire amount — along with an interest of 6 per cent — works out to about Rs 36 lakh.

Reddy said that a decision on whether to seek enhancement of compensation would be taken after going through the judgment and consulting the family members.

Dr Rajashekhar, known as Raja to his friends, played a role in the creation of the nation’s first computerised current awareness service in the early 1980s at NCSI. He set up India’s first interoperable institutional open access archive.

H Rajendra Babu
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