Widow's remarriage no ground to deny her relief: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has held that remarriage of a widow would not deprive her from getting compensation for accidental death of her first husband.

The ruling was delivered by a bench headed by Justice Dharmadhikari recently. "The law postulates grant of just compensation to the claimants. That she was married to deceased and had given birth to a daughter is undisputed. That she has lost company of her husband and will have to take care of her child even after remarriage ought to have, therefore, weighed with the Tribunal while awarding compensation," the bench observed.

A tribunal had refused compensation to the wife on the ground that she had remarried, although it awarded the same to the victim's child. Sandeep Purandare, a city resident working with L~~amp;amp;T was killed on July 5, 2007, when a dumper truck hit his motorcycle on Western Express Highway near suburban Andheri.

The Accidents Tribunal awarded his family compensation of Rs 30 lakhs. However, on an appeal, the high court increased this amount to Rs 66.98 lakh along with interest observing that calculations were not proper and rise in income, if the deceased was alive, was not taken into account. The high court also ordered that the family be paid Rs 30,000 towards litigation costs.

The high court further ordered 20 per cent of the compensation amount of Rs 67 lakh should be paid to deceased's wife and 60 per cent to his 11-year-old daughter. The remaining 20 per cent was awarded to deceased's mother.

The court gave substantial share of compensation to the child as it felt that she will require this amount for education, day-to-day maintenance and marriage. The bench ordered that this amount may be kept in a fixed deposit in a nationalised bank.