Khushi Gupta
Published on: May 16, 2022 at 17:18 IST
The Jharkhand High Court recently expressed regret over a Government Department’s failure to satisfy the Compensation Awarded to the kin of a motor accident Victim, following her demise due to a mishap caused by the department’s vehicle.
Justice Gautam Kumar Choudhary remarked, “The instant appeal reflects a sorry state of affair where instead of satisfying the award of compensation the litigation has been dragged to this Court without any sound or reasonable ground.”
“The Award was jointly and severally against both the appellant who was the driver of the vehicle and the PHED department.”
“No appeal has been preferred by the Department, therefore, it was incumbent on its part of it to have satisfied the award and to have proceeded against the driver as per law for any breach of terms and conditions of the employment.”
The driver of the offending vehicle had preferred the instant Appeal against the Judgment and Award of Compensation for the death of one Nisha in a motor vehicle accident caused by a drilling machine.
The Tribunal had Awarded a Compensation of Rs. 75,000/- to the son of the deceased under Section 163A of the Motor Vehicle Act. This Appeal was preferred on two grounds: one, Challenging the Jurisdiction of the Tribunal, and two, the second party being an Authority within the meaning of ‘State’ under Article 12 of the Constitution of India, it was not the driver but the Department which was liable to pay the Compensation amount.
The Court noted that the first ground is without any basis, and no reason has been assigned as to how the Tribunal passing the Judgment and Award had no Jurisdiction.
Given that it is an admitted position that the vehicle was owned by the Government department and not for the private purpose of the driver, the Court directed the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) department to satisfy the Award of Compensation within a month.
“No Appeal has been preferred by the Department, therefore, it was incumbent on the part of it to have satisfied the award and to have proceeded against the driver as per Law for any breach of terms and condition of the employment,” it stated.