Date:08/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/08/stories/2006060812160500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Court ruling a big relief for remarried women

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: In a judgment of far-reaching consequences that would give relief to thousands of women who have re-married, the Karnataka High Court has held that such women are entitled to compensation claimed due to the death of their first husband.

Justice K. Ramanna passed the order while hearing a petition filed by a woman who had re-married after her first husband's death.

K.M. Nataraj, counsel for the petitioner, said his client had lost her husband in an accident.

Following this, she filed a claims petition before a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. During the pendency of the petition, she re-married.

Taking this into consideration, the MACT rejected her petition for claim. The woman then moved the High Court against the MACT order.

The High Court, while allowing her petition, held that a woman was entitled to claim compensation and the re-marriage would only have a bearing on the quantum of money to be decided as compensation.

"The right to claim compensation has to be determined as per the cause of action she had at the time of filing the claims petition," the court observed.