The insurance benefits received by a deceased's dependants should not be deducted from compensation awarded under the Fatal Accidents Act, aligning with principles of justice and public policy.

6. The legal representatives of the three unfortunate victims of the accident filed Claim Applications Nos.13, 15 and 17 of 1975 in the Claims Tribunal at Jamnagar. All of them contended in their Claim Applications that the driver of the public carrier was solely responsible for the accident. They, therefore, claimed compensation from the driver, owner and insurer of the said public carrier. At the same time the Company as the owner of the car and its insurer were impleaded as parties to the Claim Applications filed by the legal representatives of Mr. Shroff and Mr. Pujari. The Tribunal came to the conclusion that the accident occurred because of want of care and caution on the part of the driver of the public carrier. It, therefore, held the driver, owner and insurer of the said public carrier liable in damages to the legal representatives of the three victims of the accident. The Tribunal awarded a sum of Rs.36,400/- with six per cent interest from the date of the Claim Application and proportionate costs to the legal representatives or dependants of the deceased driver Bhupatsing. It awarded a sum of Rs.2,20,000/- with six percent interest from the date of the Claim Application and proportionate costs to the legal representatives of the deceased D.G. Pujari. To the widow and son of deceased H.P. Shroff the Tribunal awarded a sum of Rs.2,45,000/- with six per cent interest from the date of the Claim Application and proportionate costs. The owner and the insurer of the offending public carrier feeling aggrieved by the awards made by the Claims Tribunal in the aforesaid three Claim Applications have preferred the present three appeals.

7 - 16.  xxxx xxxx xxxx

17. That takes us to the question of general importance which was ably presented to us by Mr. Shah, the learned advocate for the appellants. The question which he posed for our consideration was : whether in assessing damages payable under the Fatal Accidents Act to the dependants or legal representatives of the deceased, must there be deducted therefrom any pecuniary benefit that such dependants or legal representatives may have received under any life insurance policy or accident benefit policy taken out by the deceased? Precisely stated, the submission is two - fold : (i) the benefit of accelerated payment received by the legal representatives of the deceased under a life insurance policy taken out by the deceased was liable to be deducted from the total amount of compensation payable under the Fatal Accidents Act ; and (ii) the accident insurance money received by the legal representatives of the deceased must be deducted in its entirety from the compensation money and the surplus, if any, could only be awarded to the legal representatives of the deceased.

18. The Fatal Accidents Act , 1855 was enacted to provide compensation to families for loss occasioned by the death of a person caused by actionable wrong. S.1A and S.2 which are relevant for our purpose may be extracted at this stage: -
"1A. Whenever the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act. neglect, or default, and the act, neglect or default is such as would (if death had not ensued) have entitled the party injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the party who would have been liable if death had not ensued, shall be liable to an action or suit for damages, notwithstanding the death of person injured, and although the death shall have been caused under such circumstances as amount in law to felony or other crime.
Every such action or suit shall be for the benefit of the wife, husband, parent and child, if any, of the person whose death shall have been so caused, and shall be brought by and in the name of the executor, administrator or representative of the person deceased;
and in every such action, the Court may give such damages as it may think proportioned to the loss resulting from such death to the parties respectively, for whom and for whose benefit such action shall