Judgment :

CYRIAC JOSEPH, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellants were the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 10405/2008 which was dismissed by the High Court of Karnataka as per order dated 5.8.2008 which is impugned in this appeal. Respondent Nos. 1 to 3 herein were respondent Nos. 1, 2 and 4 in the writ petition.

3. One T.S. Subrahmanyam met with a motor accident on 12.11.1991 and died on 21.7.1993 due to injuries sustained in the accident. Appellant No. 1 is the widow and appellant Nos.2 and 3 are the daughters of the said T.S. Subrahmanyam. In the claim petition filed by the appellants who are the legal heirs of T.S. Subrahmanyam, the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal-I, Mysore (for short, “the Tribunal”) passed an award granting Rs.60,000/- as compensation. In appeal, the High Court of Karnataka vide its order dated 6.7.2006 enhanced the amount of compensation to Rs.4,25,000/-. Respondent No. 3 - United India Insurance Co. Ltd. deposited in the Tribunal an amount of Rs.6,33,038/- on 7.1.2008. On 31.1.2008, the appellants filed an application before the Tribunal praying for release of the amount in deposit in favour of appellant No. 1, A.V. Padma. Appellants Nos. 2 and 3 filed affidavits stating that they had no objection to the payment of the amount to their mother A.V. Padma. However, the Tribunal directed to invest Rs.1,00,000/- each in long term deposits in favour of appellant Nos. 2 and 3 and to disburse only the balance amount to the appellants. The appellants filed a further application dated 19.6.2008 praying to disburse the entire amount to the decree-holders without insisting on deposit of any portion of the amount in any nationalized bank. However, by an order dated 28.6.2008, the Tribunal rejected the prayer for release of the amount of Rs.2,00,000/- deposited in the nationalized bank. Aggrieved by the order of the Tribunal, the appellants filed Writ Petition No. 10405 of 2008 in the High Court of Karnataka. The High Court dismissed the writ petition observing that the Tribunal had passed the impugned order keeping in mind the law declared by the Supreme Court in General Manger, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Trivandrum v. Susamma Thomas and Others, AIR 1994 SC 1631.

According to the High Court, the Tribunal only followed the judgment of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit. Challenging the order of the High Court this appeal has been filed.

4. In the case of Susamma Thomas (supra), this Court issued certain guidelines in order to “safeguard the feed from being frittered away by the beneficiaries due to ignorance, illiteracy and susceptibility to exploitation”. Even as per the guidelines issued by this Court, long term fixed deposit of amount of compensation is mandatory only in the case of minors, illiterate claimants and widows. In the case of illiterate claimants, the Tribunal is allowed to consider the request for lumpsum payment for effecting purchase of any movable property such as agricultural implements, rickshaws etc. to earn a living. However, in such cases, the Tribunal shall make sure that the amount is actually spent for the purpose and the demand is not a ruse to withdraw money. In the case of semi-illiterate claimants, the Tribunal should ordinarily invest the amount of compensation in long term fixed deposit. But if the Tribunal is satisfied for reasons to be stated in writing that the whole or part of the amount is required for expanding an existing business or for purchasing some property for earning a livelihood, the Tribunal can release the whole or part of the amount of compensation to the claimant provided the Tribunal will ensure that the amount is invested for the purpose for which it is demanded and paid. In the case of literate persons, it is not mandatory to invest the amount of compensation in long term fixed deposit. The expression used in guideline No. (iv) issued by this Court is that in the case of literate persons also the Tribunal may resort to the procedure indicated