Thane: If an employee is murdered while performing his duty, he is eligible for compensation under the Employees Compensation Act, a Thane court has held. Judge B Y Phad awarded a compensation of Rs 8,61,120 to a woman and her child for the murder of her husband while on duty in 2011.
In their claim, family members Pramiladevi Ram Avtar Singh, 24, Amarkumar Ram Avtar Singh, 6, Jadish Hareram Singh, 56 and Marnidevi Jagdish Singh, 30 of Darbhanga from Bihar stated that the victim was serving as a driver with one Siena D’silva of Mira Road in Thane district.
It was on June 28, 2011 while he was driving a Toyota Innova on the Nashik-Pune road in the jurisdiction of Sinnar, in Mohadari Ghat that he was beaten up and murdered.
The accused–Shaikh, Naushad Allauddin and Atik Ul-Anola Haque– then escaped with the vehicle. Later, they were arrested.
The family members submitted in their application that deceased Ram Avtar Jagdish Singh was 26 years old and was earning a salary of Rs 8000.
They further submitted that he died during the course of his employment and while performing his duty and claimed an amount of Rs 8,61,120 and also additional sum of Rs 2,500 as funeral expenses, Rs 5,000 for transporting the body from Sinnar, and Rs 2000 towards legal expenses adding upto Rs 8,70,620.
The opponents in the case were the owner of the car, and employer of the deceased (D’ Silva) and Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd.
The employer confirmed the employer-employee relation butcontended that the claim was excessive. He also said that he was not liable for payment of compensation as the vehicle was insured with the insurance company and prayed for discharge from the liability.
The insurance company contested the claim and said the claim was false, vexatious and frivolous. They argued that Singh did not die in an accidental mishap and it was murder.
Also, there is no employer-employee relationship between the first opponent and the deceased. “The insurance company has no knowledge of the relationship of applicants with the deceased.
It also denied that the deceased died while in employment of the first opponent. Therefore, insurance company cannot be saddled with payment of penalty and interest,” the company submitted in the court.
PTI