New Delhi, December 24
No amount of money or other material compensation can erase an accident victim’s trauma, the Supreme Court has said even as it noted that monetary compensation assures restitution and it should be awarded to the aggrieved person, taking the type of disability into account.
“Whilst no amount of money or other material compensation can erase the trauma, pain and suffering that a victim undergoes after a serious accident (or replace the loss of a loved one), monetary compensation is the manner known to law, whereby society assures some measure of restitution to those who survive, and the victims who have to face their lives,” a Bench led by Justice Krishna Murari said in a judgment.
The top court awarded a compensation of Rs 9.3 lakh to a woman labourer who was injured during construction of a government hospital at Bidar in Karnataka. In July 2015, the appellant fell from the second floor after the centering plate collapsed on her head. She sustained a fracture in the spinal bone and compound fractures in various parts of the body. “Ideally, the compensation should be provided to the employees against the hazards of employment to which an employee is exposed,” the Bench noted.
“This also includes any occupational disease or industrial accident that the employee may encounter arising out of or during the course of employment which leads to disability or death,” the top court added. — TNS
Way to help
Monetary compensation is the manner known to law, whereby society assures some measure of restitution to those who survive mishaps. — The Bench
