Former Army man’s widow to get Rs 74.99 lakh accident payout, no slash in pension

“The appeal filed by the insurance company is dismissed insofar as it seeks deduction of the family pension of Rs 12,795 received by the widow. However, the computation of compensation is corrected based on the deceased’s proved monthly income of Rs 39,325,” reads the September 22 order.

The court observed that family pension is a statutory, service-related benefit accruing to the surviving dependents under applicable service rules after an employee’s death. It was never an income earned or received by the deceased during his lifetime.

Army veteran died in accident

Gurmit Singh was an Indian Army veteran who, after retiring from the military, worked as a Special Police Officer (SPO) in the Haryana Police. On August 10, 2020, he was involved in a road traffic accident and died from his injuries. He left behind five dependents: his wife, two children, and his parents.

The family filed a claim under the Motor Vehicles Act to seek financial compensation for his untimely death. The MACT in Kurukshetra awarded them Rs 73.29 lakh along with interest.

To calculate this, the tribunal combined his Army pension of Rs 21,325 per month and his Haryana Police salary of Rs 18,000 per month. However, during the final addition, the Tribunal accidentally wrote his combined monthly income as Rs 39,375 instead of the correct sum of Rs 39,325. Dissatisfied with the tribunal’s decision, both sides filed a plea before the high court.

The claimants, through their advocate Maneet Kaushik, seek enhancement of compensation primarily on the ground that the tribunal awarded consortium only to the widow, whereas the deceased left behind his widow, two children, and both parents.

Appearing for the insurance company, Advocate Harsh Aggarwa submitted that after the death of the deceased, his widow is receiving a family pension of Rs 12,795 per month and the said amount ought to have been taken into consideration while determining the loss of dependency.

Family pension cannot be deducted: Order

The court held that the mere fact that a widow becomes entitled to a family pension after her husband’s death does not mean it can be deducted from the compensation payable under the Motor Vehicles Act.

The court clarified that the judicial precedents cited by the Insurance Company did not apply. While family pension cannot be counted as the deceased’s personal income to calculate dependency, it also cannot be treated as a deductible gain to lower the insurance payout.