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Journalism of Courage
The Karnataka High Court last month held that the marital status of a deceased accident victim’s sisters would not affect the quantum of compensation awarded to his siblings.
His siblings George, Janet and Anitha challenged the compensation amount in the high court. Before the tribunal, they had initially sought a compensation of Rs 25 lakh. The company that had insured the offending vehicle argued that Menezes’s brother and sisters could not be considered his dependents and that the tribunal should therefore have calculated the compensation based on the “loss of estate” and not “loss of dependency.” The company’s counsel also pointed out that the two sisters were married.
But the siblings’ counsel argued that Menezes used to contribute to all of their maintenance, and that just because they were married did not mean the sisters were not dependent on his earnings.
The court stated, “In our social context, it is not uncommon for daughters and sisters, even after marriage, to maintain a close relationship with their parental family. The earning member of the family often contributes towards their welfare and social needs. Therefore, their right to claim compensation cannot be denied merely on the ground of their marital status. Deceased was said to be an earning member of the family and it is also stated that he was taking care of the claimants and financially assisting them. There is no contra-evidence to disbelieve it…”
The court also adjusted the monthly income calculated by the tribunal to be in line with a chart prepared by the Karnataka Legal Services Authority for such cases. As a result, the court increased the compensation by Rs 2.45 lakh.
