Karnataka High Court turns compensation for tragedy into long-term security for bereaved mason’s family

In a unique directive to prevent a mason from exhausting lump-sum compensation on necessities and to protect his family’s future, the High Court of Karnataka has directed that a ₹5 lakh compensation, payable to him for an amicable settlement of a criminal case related to the death of his two-and-a-half-year-old child, be invested in a Post Office scheme till his daughter attains the age of majority.

“The father of the deceased is a mason, earning his livelihood through daily wages, and is burdened with the responsibility of nurturing two other young children, a son and a daughter. Experience teaches courts that a substantial lump sum, placed in the hands of an impoverished family struggling for daily survival, may be consumed by immediate necessities, leaving little for the long-term welfare of the surviving children. Compassion, therefore, demanded not merely disbursement but preservation,” the court observed.