KOLLAM: A person in his early sixties leading a retired life along with his wife in a house that was built using the savings of lifetime, is now facing recovery proceedings on account of a negligence he committed 10 years back.
He had sold a motorcycle in 2009 to an agent without bothering to change the ownership name. That has now trapped him in an ordeal costing Rs 11 lakh.
A. Purushothaman, 60, of Sreeja Bhavan, Thod-iyoor North in Karunag-appally has now pleaded before the government to avoid the coercive action of recovering his house.
The motorcycle was under the ownership of Purushothaman when he sold it to an auto consultant on May 25, 2009 signing a sale agreement between the parties. However, the ownership of the bike was not changed even after the vehicle was later resold to another person by the agent.
In February 2012, a man died in an accident after this ill-fated motorcycle hit an Erattupetta native at Vavvakkavu in Kollam. The man was run over by a mini lorry after being hit by the motorcycle, killing him on the spot.
The insurance premium of the vehicle was also not renewed by one Santhosh, who possessed the vehicle. Three days after the accident, this man committed suicide. Mr Purushothaman came to know of the series of incidents only after the police came in search of him at his house. A court had ordered the company that insured the lorry to pay Rs 21 lakh to the relatives of the dead.
In a case filed at the High Court, the insurance company claimed both vehicles, the motorcycle and the mini lorry, were responsible for the death of the commuter. The court had, based on this, ordered the owner of the motorcycle should pay half the amount of the compensation.
The revenue recovery proceedings were initiated by the authorities six months after the court had pronounced the verdict. The family is now awaiting the mercy of government by submitting a petition to the Chief Minister.
