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8/18/2019 Damages Under the Fatal Accidents Act
1/6
DAMAGES UNDER THE FATAL ACCIDENTS ACT , 1855
In case of fatal accident, the dependents of the deceased are
entitled to compensation under the indian fatal accidents act ,1855. Section 1-A of the act provides under :
“suit for compes!tio to t"e f!mi#$ of ! perso for #oss
occ!sioe% to it &$ "is %e!t" !ctio!e 'ro()* whenever
the death of a person shall be caused b wron!ful act , ne!lect or
default , and the act , ne!lect or default is such as would "if death
has not ensued# have entitled the part in$ured to maintain an
action and recover dama!es in respect , thereof, the part who
would have been liable if the death had not ensued shall be liable
for an action or suit for dama!es, not withstandin! the death of
the person in$ured, and althou!h the death shall have been
caused under such circumstances as amount in law to felon or
other crime.ever such action shall be for the bene%t of the
wife,husband,parent and child , if an, of the person whose death
shall have been cuased, and shall be brou!ht b and in the name
of the e&ecutor, adminintrator or representive of the person
deceased , and in ever such action the court ma !ive such
dama!es as it ma thin' proportioned to the loss resultin! from
such death to the parties respectivel, for whom and for whose
bene%t , such action shall be brou!ht and the amount so
recovered , after deductin! all costs and e&penses, includin! the
costs not recovered from the defendant, shall be divided amon!st
he before mentioned parties or an of them in such shares as
the court b its $ud!ement or decree shall direct.
THE DE+ENDENTS H- CAN CLAIM C-M+ENSATI-N
A claim under the act can be made onl for the bene%t of certain
heirs, i.e., the wife, husband, parent or child. (or the bene%t of
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onl this cate!or of people the claim can be brou!ht b and in
the name of the admininstrator, e&ecutor, or the representative of
the person deceased. )o action can be brou!ht b the brothers or
sisters of the deceased as the are not *le!al representatives+
under this act. In .u%"! /0 Uio of I%i! , an action brou!ht bthe brother to recover compensation under the fatal accidents act
was dismissed.
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INUNCTI-NS
An in$unction is an order of the court directin! the doin! of some
act or restrainin! the commission or continuance of some act. he
court has the discretion to !rant or refuse this remed and when
remed b wa of dama!es is a sucient relief , in$unction will
not be !ranted. he in$unctions are of various 'inds :-
Tempor!r$ !% perpetu!# i2uctio* hese have been de%ned in section /, speci%c relief act, 10 as
follows-
"1# A temporar in$unction is such as is to continue until a
speci%ed time ,or until further orders of court"2# A perpetual in$unction is one b which the defendant is
perpetuall en$oined from the assertion of a ri!ht, or from
the commission of an act which could be contrar to the
ri!ht of the plainti3.
A temporar or interlocutor in$unction is !enerall !ranted
before the case has been heard on merits and it is onl
provisional and , as such, continues until the case is heard on its
merits or until the further orders of the court. It does not mean
determination in favour of the plainti3 but simpl shows that
there is a substantial 4uestion re4uirin! consideration. here it is,
for e&le, intended that the propert should continue to remainin its e&istin! condition rather than bein! destroed or wron!full
disposed or before the %nal decision , such an in$unction will be
issued. If court, after full !oin! into the matter, %nds that the
plainti3 is entitled to relief, the temporar in$unction will be
replaced b perpetual in$unction. If however the plainti3+s case is
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found to be un$ust , the in$unction will be dissolved. A perpetual
in$unction is a %nal order and is issued after the full consideration
of the case.
+R-HI.IT-R3 AND MANDAT-R3 INUNCTI-N
6rohibitor in$unction forbids the defendants from doin! some act
which will interfere with the plainti3+s lawful ri!hts. he e&les
of it are restrainin! the defendant from commitin! or continuin!
the acts li'e trespass or nuisance.
7andator in$unction is an order which re4uires the defendant to
do some positive act, for e&le, an order to pull down a wallwhich causes obstruction to the plainti3+s ri!ht to li!ht . *ou
should not construct a wall+ is a prohibitor in$unction and *ou
should demolish the wall+ is a mandator in$unction.
S+ECIFIC RESTITUTI-N -F +R-+ERT3 hen the plainti3 has been wron!full dispossessed his movable
or immovable propert, the court ma order that the speci%c
propert should be restored bac' to the plainti3. ecover of land
can be made b an action for e$ectment and the recover of
chattels b an action for detinue .
E4TRA UDICIAL REMEDIES
Apart from the above stated remedies of dama!es, in$unctions,and speci%c restitution of propert which are also 'nown as
$udicial remedies, a person ma have recourse to certain
remedies outside the court of law. Such remedies are 'nown as
e&tra $udicial remedies. A person ma have these remedies b his
own stren!th b wa of self help. he remedies are re-entr of
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land, reception of chattels , distress dama!es feasant and
abatement of nuisance. In the %rst two cases, a person, b the
use of reasonable force, has the ri!ht to recover bac' the
propert to which he is entitled. 9istress dama!e feasant entitles
a person to seie the !oods or cattle which have trespassed onhis land until compensation for trespass has been paid.
A.ATEMENT -F NUISANCE
An occupier of land is permitted to abate, i.e., to terminate b his
own act, nuisance which is a3ectin! his land. (or e&le, he
ma cut the branches or thr roots of nei!hbours+s trees which
have escaped from his land. ;enerall, before abatement is
made, notice to the other part is re4uired unless the nuisance is
one which, if allowed to continue, will be a dan!er to the life or
propert. hen abatement is possible without !oin! on the
wron!doer+s land, i.e., cuttin! of the brances of a tree han!in! on
the land of the abater, the same ma be done without an notice.
hen there are more than one wa of abatement, the less
mischievous one should be followed. hen a more mischievous
wa of abatement is followed, notice of abatement should be
!iven.
FEL-NI-US T-RTS
hen the tort was a felon, the rule at common law was that
remed in case of tort was not available until the defendant was
prosecuted for felon or some reasonable $usti%cation for notprosecutin! him was shown. hus, proceedin! in case of tort was
suspended until the defendant was prosecuted or some
reasonable $usti%cation for not prosecutin! him was shown. his
rule has been abolished in
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to the tort of conversion. It is now possible to sue the defendants
even thou!h he is not prosecuted for theft.
In India , when the same act amounts to a tort as well as criminal
wron!, an action of tort can lie irrespective of the fact whetheran criminal action for the same has been brou!ht or not. hus,
under indian law, prosecution of the wron!doer id not a condition
precedent to an action under law of torts, as in