Kanupriya Saigal's family had gone to the Consumers' Forum against Thomas Cook and Red Apple Travel.
Premier travel agencies Thomas Cook and Red Apple Travel have been ordered to pay Rs 50 lakh to a Delhi man who lost his wife, son and father-in-law in an accident during a visit to Sri Lanka.
Kanupuriya Saigal, who died in the December 2019 accident, was a former journalist and news anchor with NDTV. Her son Shreya Saigal and father, famous Hindi litterateur Ganga Prasad Vimal, had died with her when the van they were travelling in collided with a container truck in Colombo. The 52-year-old driver of the van was also killed in the accident.
Her husband Yogesh Saigal and their daughter Aishwarya Saigal, had sustained severe injuries.
Nearly four years later, the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum directed the travel agencies to pay compensation to Yogesh Saigal.
"There is negligence/deficiency on part of the Opposition Parties (Thomas Cook and Red Apple Travel) on account of the negligence of the driver hired by them and they cannot be allowed to escape its responsibility and corresponding liability by stating that it was merely booking the places etc at the behest of the complainant," the Forum said in its order.
The Saigal family had gone to the Forum against Thomas Cook and Red Apple Travel for their negligence and deficiency in services, unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements and cost of legal proceedings, sources said. They had sought damages to the tune of 8.99 crore.
In his complaint, Mr Saigal said he had been unable to attend the funeral and last rites of his wife and son, which took place in Delhi, as he had suffered multiple fractures and was recuperating at a hospital in Sri Lanka. The loss of his wife and father-in-law has hit his mother-in-law hard as she is physically and mentally challenged. His daughter, he said, is battling severe mental trauma. He is unable to walk normally and "finds it difficult to sleep or interact socially".
The Rs 50 lakh compensation has to be paid by the travel agencies "jointly and severally" within three months, failing which they have to pay another 10 lakh, the Forum said.