HC allows first wife and daughter of cop who died of Covid, to file compensation claim

After the Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday was informed by the first wife and daughter of a Maharashtra railway police force police personnel, who succumbed to Covid-19 in May, that they were not aware of his second family and required time to counter the family’s claims to the compensation due to him, the court granted the first wife and her daughter two days and asked them to bring a lawyer. The court also indicated that as per past judgments, the legacy of a policeman could be shared by three people including the first wife and daughter, and the daughter from the second wife.

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A division bench of justice SJ Kathawalla and justice Madhav Jamdar, while hearing the petition of a 21-year-old woman, the policeman’s second daughter, seeking equal and proportionate distribution of the compensation and dues accruing in the name of her deceased father, was informed by advocate Prerak Sharma that as per court orders the first wife and daughter were appearing in person.

The policeman’s daughter from his first wife said he used to reside with her and her mother continuously and also made a statement on record that neither she nor her mother knew of the existence of the second wife and daughter.

Though Sharma informed the court that the second wife’s daughter had posted information about herself and had referred to the policemen as her father on the Facebook page of his first daughter, the latter refuted the claim.

After hearing the submissions, the court directed the first wife and daughter to file their counter claims through an affidavit in reply to the petition within two days and also directed them to hire a lawyer to represent them.

The bench also directed the state government to deposit the compensation amount with the court within a week and posted the hearing on Thursday. On the request of additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan, the court allowed the authorities to withhold the gratuity amount accruing in the name of the deceased policeman and not deposit it in court. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Pradeep Chavan of west zone said that the compensation amount from the police welfare fund and other outstanding dues of the deceased policeman would be deposited in the court within a week.