‘No casual worker’: 29 years after woman’s accident death, daughter gets Rs 58 lakh

The woman was allegedly working as an Anganwadi worker and tailor but was considered to be an unskilled daily wager due to a lack of documents in 2001, the Punjab and Haryana High Court noted.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has raised the compensation to be paid to a daughter who lost her mother in a 1997 road accident from Rs 1.92 lakh to Rs 57.96 lakh, noting that though the girl was a minor at the time of the accident, she is now an adult and the compensation must be released directly into her bank account.

Justice Amarinder Singh Grewal was on September 9 hearing an appeal filed by the victim’s daughter who challenged the compensation of Rs 1.92 lakh awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) on November 1, 2001.

“A perusal of the record shows that the learned Tribunal, while rejecting the plea of her dual income as an Anganwari worker and tailor for want of formal documentary proof, relegated the status of the deceased mother to a casual manual labourer. This approach is legally unsustainable,” it added, while mentioning that the woman earned about Rs 30,000 per month.

It was stated that on September 13, 1997, the woman was travelling in a bus from Chandigarh to Pathankot. At about 10.40 am, when the bus reached near Milwan village on the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway, a truck coming from the opposite direction collided head-on with the bus. The woman suffered fatal injuries and died on the spot.

An FIR was later registered at a police station in Kangra district. The tribunal, in its November 1, 2001 order, held the truck driver solely responsible for the accident and awarded Rs 1.92 lakh to the woman’s daughter, who was a minor at the time.

Justice Amarinder Singh Grewal passed the order on September 9.

The daughter, through advocate Gurdev Singh, argued that her mother, though considered to be a homemaker, was the sole breadwinner and her contribution to the family should not be ignored simply because she did not have formal employment.

It was further argued that the tribunal had not awarded any compensation for the loss of her mother’s care and affection or funeral expenses. The daughter was a minor when the accident took place and had been deprived of her mother’s care, affection and support.

The insurance company, through advocate Shubham Gupta, submitted that the previous award did not suffer from any illegality or perversity and was passed after considering oral and documentary evidence. It was argued that the tribunal’s findings were well-reasoned and did not call for any interference by this court.

‘Can’t be treated as unskilled worker’

The court found that the tribunal had rejected the claim that the woman earned from working as an Anganwadi worker and tailor because there was no formal documentary proof. It had then treated her as a casual manual worker.

“The primary issue before this court that arises for determination in this appeal is whether the learned Tribunal was justified in assessing the notional income of the deceased Smt Kamlesh Kumari at a nominal rate of Rs 2,000/- per month by treating her purely as an unskilled daily wage manual worker,” the judge stated.

“The claimant (child) is held entitled to total compensation of Rs 57.96 lakh, resulting in enhancement of Rs 56.04 lakh over and above the amount already awarded by the learned tribunal, along with interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till realisation,” the order read.

The high court held that the woman’s daughter should also be entitled to Rs 18,150 towards loss of estate, Rs 18,150 towards funeral expenses and Rs 48,400 towards parental consortium.

The court found that the child was a minor at the time of the accident but attained majority during the pendency of the present appeal, and held that the enhanced compensation should be released directly into her savings bank account.