A Labour court here has ruled that if an employed driver uses the vehicle for his personal work and dies in an accident,his survivors are not eligible for any compensation. The ruling was given recently by Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation V D Pimpalkar while dismissing an application by a young widow following the death of her husband in a road accident on May 22,2011. The victim,Ishwar Mali,was employed with his own brother Ravindra Mali as a driver and the claim was lodged by his wife Pooja Ishwar Mali and her in-laws against Ravindra Tarachand Mali and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance company. The claimants told the court through their counsel that Ishwar was employed as a driver with his own brother and was drawing a salary of Rs 8,000 per month. They sought a compensation of Rs 8,89,300 along with 12 percent interest per annum till the realisation of the claim. During the cross examination by the insurance company,Ravindra told the court that on the day of accident,Ishwar was going to attend the wedding of his friend (and was not on official duty.) Discussing the said employer-employee relation,Judge Pimpalkar said as per the provisions envisaged in respect of the compensation,the status of the deceased as a workman has not been proved in the case. "Under such circumstances there cannot be any doubt that though the death was accidental,it has not arisen out of employment. Attending a marriage party is a private work,it has no logical connection with the employment," the judge said. "The status of the deceased in this case has no concern with the employment as it is clear that the said car was being used by the deceased independently in his personal private capacity. It establishes that the death has no concern with the employment of Ravindra," the judge said dismissing the claim for compensation.
