SAMSAR BEGUM Vs. SURESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. With the consent of the counsel for the parties, the petition is taken up today for final hearing.

(2.) The petitioner/applicant, who is a widow and the legal heirs of the deceased in a motor accident had sought the release of the amount of Rs.2,02,500/- kept in a fixed deposit with Punjab National Bank, Sector 7, Rohini, Delhi by the order of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Delhi(hereinafter referred to as the `MACT') in a Claim Petition No.252/04. The applicant has sought for release of the said deposited amount on the ground that the applicant being a widow, intended to buy a house and had already given Rs.5,000/- as advance amount pursuant to an agreement to sell dated 15th February, 2005 and urgent release was necessary so that the purchase could fructify. The MACT has dismissed this application by observing that objective of granting compensation will get defeated if the amount is released to the applicant.

(3.) Orders for deposits of the amount of compensation are made so that the amount is not frittered away by the legal heirs of the deceased and they have a regular source of income. However there is no bar on the release of such amount and such amount can be released in suitable circumstances. Purchase of property to have a roof over the heads of the legal heirs of the deceased is good investment and such a bonafide request cannot be rejected. The applicant/petitioner herein has given a good reason for release of the amount. Accordingly the reason for rejecting the release of the amount given by the MACT is unsustainable. Whenever amount of compensation is kept in fixed deposits, the MACTs in suitable instances, such as the present case, must approach such applications with an open mind and release the fixed deposits in case circumstances so warrant. There is nothing sacrosanct about a fixed deposit and the most relevant circumstance is the welfare of the legal heirs and an order which benefits the legal heirs must be passed.