JAI WANTI Vs. RAJA BABU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the claimants for enhancement of compensation awarded under Sec. 110-D of the Motor Vehicles Act.

(2.) The undisputed facts are that Rajvir deceased was born on 1-1-1949 and met with a fatal accident on 1-5-1975 when he was aged 26 years and four months. He was a peon in the development block and was drawing salary of Rs. 225 per month. The Claims Tribunal has taken ⅓rd of his salary as personal expenses and the remaining ⅔rd as the dependency of the family considering of the claimants. In this manner the monthly dependency of the family came to Rs. 150. Admittedly he had 33 years and 8 months service left. During this period he would have received the salary which has been taken as Rs. 225 per month. The widow is also getting a family pension of Rs. 67 per month which has been deducted from the amounts of compensation payable. After capitalising the entire amount of salary which the deceased would have received during the period of his service. The Tribunal has also made a deduction on account of lump sum nature of the capitalised amount and in this manner the court has arrived at the figure of Rs. 23,700 as the amount of compensation payable to the claimants.

(3.) Learned Counsel for the appellants has contended that family pension amount should not have been deducted from the amount of compensation payable to the claimants. According to him, this is an amount which is payable for the services rendered by the deceased to the employer. However, the amount of family pension is not an amount for any services rendered by the deceased. The pension which is granted to an employee is only after a qualified period of service and that too is a available to the employee so long as he is alive. It is pension payable to the employee and not to his dependents. On the other hand the family pension is not payable to the employee but only to his dependents. This stands entirely on a different footing. In a welfare State, the Government has also to look to the social aspect and in case an employee dies in harness or prematurely. The family of the deceased is rendered without any source of income and in order to meet such a situation that a provision for granting family pension has been made. It has nothing to do with the services rendered by the employee. Even if the employee dies just a day after entering into employment or he dies just a day before he was due for retirement, in both the cases, the family may be entitled to certain amount of family pension. Although it is co-related with the emoluments received by the employee yet it has nothing to do with the number of years services rendered by him. In the opinion of the Court. Therefore family pension is not a pension granted to the family on account of the services rendered but only by way of help to an employee and therefore, it is liable to be deducted from the amount of compensation payable to the claimants.