Govt Employee Not Disentitled From Claiming Compensation Due To Disablement: J&K High Court Upholds ₹10 Lakh Compensation For Man Who Lost Arm

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court has held that a government employee cannot be disentitled from his right to receive compensation accruing to him due to permanent disablement in the course of employment. It also held that pain, agony and the nature of disablement could be taken account of in order to determine the amount of the compensation falling due to the victim.

The court observed that the victim was injured during the course of his employment resulting in amputation of his right hand. The court said that apart from suffering huge mental pain and agony, he was also prevented from supplementing his meagre pension amount by doing any menial job after his retirement. The Court pointed out that although Respondent was serving as a Helper in the Forest Department and, therefore, was entitled to a salary. Nevertheless, he was made to live the rest of his life without a right arm, and to incur immense loss in terms of amenities of life.'

A bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Puneet Gupta also observed that the Respondent would face the stigma of being a person without the right arm for the rest of his life. The court said that it also cannot be denied that due to the amputation of his right arm, the Respondent suffered huge mental pain and agony. In such circumstances, the compensation of Rs. 10.00 lakhs, in addition to Rs. 75,000/ as ex-gratia, cannot, by any stretch of reasoning, be said to be exorbitant or irrational.

BACKGROUND

The respondent was employed as a Helper in the J&K Forest Department, wherein during the course of his employment he became a victim of cross-firing between the security forces and the militants. The Respondent suffered serious injuries during the cross-firing which eventually culminated in his right arm being amputated. The Respondent had earlier filed the Writ Petition before the High Court claiming that the Respondent had suffered 85 percent of permanent disability. The writ court directed the grant of 10 Lakh as compensation to the respondent.

The Appellant challenged the impugned order arguing that the Respondent was a Government employee receiving a monthly salary and therefore the injury suffered by him did not adversely affect his source of livelihood.

The High Court rejected the above contentions observing that the view taken earlier by the Writ Court, in the context of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the life and personal liberty of a citizen, is unexceptionable and accordingly, directed that the amount of five lakhs to be deposited by the Appellant before this court, pursuant to the orders earlier passed, shall be released in favour of the Respondent herein, along with interest accrued thereupon.

APPEARANCE:

Abdul Rashid Malik, Sr. AAG

With Rahella Khan, Assisting Counsel. For Appellants

R. A. Khan, Advocate for Respondents.

Case-Title: Union Territory of J&K and Ors. vs Jehangir Ahmad Khan, 2025

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 29

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