DISTRICT COLLECTOR PUDUKOTTAI Vs. NEELA BAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Government has come up with this appeal against the award of the Tribunal by which a sum of Rs. 3,53,400 has been awarded as compensation to the claimants who are the widow and children of the deceased being an employee of the Government and who was travelling in the jeep which was driven by the employee of the Government, that jeep having met with accident on 31.1.94. The deceased Anandaraj died as a consequence. The claimants before the Tribunal were the widow and children of the deceased Anandaraj.

(2.) The Tribunal awarded compensation of Rs. 3,53,400 which, in our opinion is very conservative award. Admittedly, the deceased had been employed as an Assistant in the Forest Department and was drawing a salary of Rs. 3,685 on the date of the accident, i.e., on 31.1.94. The report of the Pay Commission has been published and it has recommended for the said post salary of about Rs. 5,000. At the time of the accident, the Pay Commission which had been constituted by the Government was engaged in the task of revising the pay scale and for the post of Assistant, the scale of pay was later revised to about Rs. 5,000 per month.

(3.) Taking into account the salary which the deceased would have earned over a period of time as also prospects of higher salary by reason of prospective promotion, it can be safely said that his income would have been not less than Rs. 5,000 per month for the remaining period of service. The age of the deceased was given as 47 years by the claimants. Respondents did not choose to adduce any evidence to contradict it. The Tribunal has however adopted the age of the deceased at 52 by relying upon the post-mortem certificate.