Motor Accident Claim – Compensation – Assessment – Enhancement of compensation – Appellant-claimant having suffered injuries in an accident became mentally unstable with 100% functional disability – Compensation of ₹20,60,385/awarded by the Tribunal was modified and enhanced to ₹30,99,873/- by the High Court – Challenge to: Held: An enhanced income should be considered for calculation of compensation – However, the courts below assessed the appellant’s annual income at ₹1,62,420/- by wrongly relying on his Income Tax return from 02 years before the accident – Income of the appellant based on the income tax returns produced on record is progressive, annual income taken at ₹2,00,000/- – Appellant also entitled for enhancement on account of future prospects, given he was 32 years at the time of accident, he is entitled to 40% future prospects – Further, ₹1,00,000/- also awarded each on account of future attendant charges, loss of marriage prospects and pain and suffering as the appellant became mentally unstable having disability of 60% which resulted in 100% functional disability – Order of the High Court modified, appellant entitled to enhanced compensation of ₹52,31,000/- at 6% interest. [Paras 14, 14.1, 14.3, 18, 19, 22] Motor Accident Claim – Compensation – Awarding more compensation than the amount claimed – Permissibility – Plea of the insurance company that the appellant filed petition claiming compensation of ₹30,00,000/- and since the same was awarded by the High Court, no further enhancement is possible:
Held: Rejected – Amount of compensation claimed is not a bar to award more than what is claimed, provided it is found to be just and reasonable – It is the duty of the Court to assess fair compensation – Rough calculation made by the claimant is not a bar or the upper limit. [Para 20]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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