Opinion Justice with compassion

The plight of victims of road accidents is horrific. A majority of them are ordinary pedestrians,women and children and illiterate persons.

Soli J. Sorabjee

November 6, 2011 12:46 AM IST First published on: Nov 6, 2011 at 12:46 AM IST

Justice with compassion

The plight of victims of road accidents is horrific. A majority of them are ordinary pedestrians,women and children and illiterate persons. On account of ignorance,poverty and other disabilities,they are unable to engage competent lawyers for proving negligence on the part of the wrongdoer and consequently the claims are rejected. These hard realities were sensitively recognised in its judgment by a Bench of the Supreme Court comprising justices G S Singhvi and S S Nijjar. The Court in a significant ruling held that if an individual is permanently disabled,the cost of his medical treatment and care is likely to be very high. In cases involving total or partial disablement,the term compensation used in Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act would include not only the expenses incurred for immediate treatment but also the amount likely to be incurred for future medical treatment/care. The Court noticed that delay in disposal of accident claims and litigation expenses make the award passed by the Tribunal and High Court meaningless. It,therefore,directed Motor Accident Claims Tribunals to dispose of claims with the utmost urgency and adopt a pro-active approach in deciding claims and the compensation should invariably include pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.

In the case before the Supreme Court,the victim was a young man of 24 years at the time of the accident whose leg had to be amputated. The Tribunal awarded a compensation of Rs 2.50 lakh,which was increased by the High Court to Rs 3.06 lakh. The Supreme Court considering that the victim for the rest of his life would suffer the trauma of being unable to do his normal work,enhanced the amount to Rs 9.53 lakh. This judgment is a fine example of dispensing justice with compassion.

Tackling corruption

Of the several measures to combat corruption,forfeiture of the properties of a corrupt public servant is an effective deterrent. The rationale is that a corrupt official should not enjoy the fruits of his misdeeds. In that context,Chief Minister Nitish Kumars decision to convert into a school the three-storey house of IAS officer S S Verma suspended for corruption is path breaking. It is heartening that the Bihar example is emulated by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who has converted the house of a retired IAS officer convicted in a case of disproportionate assets into a homoeopathic dispensary thereby subserving the twin purpose of deterrent punishment and promotion of homoeopathy. A better move would be to convert the confiscated houses into schools for reformation of criminals,especially the politicians,bureaucrats and ministers found guilty of corruption. A list of the entrants to the school should be conspicuously displayed in public places and in the print and electronic media with their photographs.

Kodas farcial fast

The Central government has committed itself to the enactment of a strong Lokpal legislation. There is a Standing Committee headed by a distinguished lawyer,Dr Abhishek Singhvi,which is earnestly looking into various aspects of the proposed legislation and has invited comments and opinions of eminent persons on the subject. Therefore Anna Hazares recent ultimatum of another fast is premature.

The former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda is facing a criminal trial for money laundering and other acts of corruption resulting in an estimated loss of Rs 5,000 crore to the States exchequer. It seems he and his co-accused who are lodged in jail are dissatisfied about the quality and sufficiency of food supplied by the jail authorities and have been constantly protesting about it. The jail guards,believing in the principle of equality of treatment,continued to serve them the same food as in the case of other prisoners. However,because of repeated daily protests by Koda and Co,the guards lost their patience and beat up Koda who suffered some injuries. In protest against the beating,Koda had gone on fast. Apparently,fasts have become fashionable and in Kodas case,his fast is a farce.