Daily Times

Sir: One can imagine the agonies of thousands of families of fatal accidents’ victims in our country. We have very comprehensive laws on the subject of compensation payable to deserving family members of fatal accidents like air crashes, traffic, industrial, occupational and workplace accidents. These laws provide for payment of compensation to the victim’s family, who lose their breadwinner and are then left at the mercy of those responsible for paying a well deserved and immediately needed compensation. These laws are in the form of Carriage by Air (International Convention) Act 1966, Carriage by Air Act 2012, Fatal Accident Act 1955 and Workmen Compensation Act 1923 to compensate workers in different occupations and industries around the country. These three laws provide for a comprehensive remedy for prompt payment of fixed and varied amounts as compensation for deaths caused for no fault of the victims. In all the three scenarios, Pakistan has a bad record as far as the number of fatal accidents is concerned. Over 300 families have suffered over the past six years because of three air crashes. Thousands of citizens die in traffic accidents every year. Thousands of workers die because of hazardous and unsafe working conditions in our industries and other occupational activities. Although there are comprehensive laws to compensate families of victims, all these laws become purposeless because cases for payment of compensation remain pending before the courts for years, while widows and orphans continue to suffer because of an inefficient justice system.

The cases of Dr Naheed and other Fokker crash victims may be one highlighted example. Over 100,000 casualties are reported in each of the major hospitals. The number of industrial and occupational workers becoming casualties because of unsafe industrial practices is never known. Each worker’s family is entitled to an immediate compensation of Rs 300,000 under the Workmen Compensation Act 1923. Hardly any family is paid this amount because of the judicial barriers. Each family is entitled to cash compensation equivalent to the earning capacity of an individual under the Fatal Accident Act 1855. Again, victims cannot have this deserved amount because of a lengthy judicial process. This situation is bringing social disaster to society, and the onus lies on the judicial system. It can be averted if the domain of present judicial activism is extended to benefit widows and orphans. The Chief Justice of Pakistan must issue a general order that all suits pertaining to fatal accidents are decided within six months.

This has worked well in the 1980s when there was a standing order to courts to proceed with cases of widows on an urgent basis.

DR ABDUL RAZZAQ

Karachi