SC directs bus owner to give compensation to its driver

The Supreme Court Tuesday directed a bus owner to give compensation to his driver who died after falling from the roof of the vehicle, saying the person stayed with the bus for days on end as part of his duty.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha noted that due to the nature of the duty, the victim stayed with the bus and would not go home for weeks.

"Merely because the deceased was coming down the roof of the bus after having his meal, cannot be considered in isolation and interpreted myopically to hold that he was off duty and therefore would not be entitled to compensation," the court said.

The top court noted that the deceased was present at the bus terminal and remained with the bus even after arrival from Indore "not by choice, but by compulsion and necessity, because of the nature of his duties".

The route timings of the bus required the deceased to be readily available with the bus so that the passenger service being provided by the respondent remained efficient and was not affected, it noted.

The bench directed to pay the compensation under the Employees Compensation Act.

"The Workmen's Compensation Commissioner, Labour Court, Khandwa has already determined the salary of the deceased at the time of death as Rs 4,275 per month and which is upheld. The compensation payable to the appellants shall be calculated on the aforesaid basis under Section 4 along with default penalty under Section 4A and costs to be awarded under Section 26 of the Act," the court said.

The judgement was pronounced on the plea of the legal heirs of the deceased driver who had approached the top court aggrieved by the rejection of their claim for compensation.

The 42-year-old driver of the public bus met with an accidental death on July 18, 2010 at Burhanpur bus stand in Madhya Pradesh.

He was working as a driver of the bus ferrying passengers from Indore to Burhanpur.

The bus owner had argued that there was no proximity between the death and discharge of duties.

"The deceased cannot be said to have been on duty while he was eating food on the roof of the bus by choice," the bus owner said.