Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 – Motor accident – Compensation – Enhancement of – Victim aged below 40 years, met with an accident while traveling in his company vehicle which collided with container lorry driven rashly and negligently – Victim suffered 90% permanent disability – Tribunal taking the functional disability as 100%, awarded compensation of Rs.58,09,930/- with 6% interest per annum and Rs.1,00,000/- as future medical expenses – High Court taking loss of future prospects at @ 40% awarded Rs.78,16,390/- as compensation with 6% interest per annum – Challenge to:
Held: Injuries sustained by the claimant are serious, and their effect on his life are long-lasting and even lifelong – Both the tribunal and the High Court rightly took the disability suffered by the claimant to be at 100% – In view of the injuries suffered, the ‘pain and suffering’ caused, and the life-long nature of the disability afflicted upon the claimant, and the statement of the doctor, the case of the claimant is justified – Rs.15,00,000/- awarded under the head ‘pain and suffering’, considering the fact that the prayer of the claimant for enhancement of compensation was by a sum of Rs.10,00,000/- – Compensation is just, fair and reasonable – Award given by the High Court modified only on two counts-future prospects and ‘pain and suffering’ – Compensation to be awarded stood at Rs.87,29,241/- – Thus, the total amount payable is Rs.1,02,29,241/-. [Paras 11, 12, 15, 16]
Words and Phrases – Definition of pain and suffering – Explanation:
Held: While each discipline such as bioethics, medical ethics, psycho-oncology, anaesthesiology, philosophy, sociology etc, has its own conception of the meaning of pain/suffering, within its confines, the commonality that emerges is that a person's understanding of oneself is shaken or compromised at its very root at the hands of consistent suffering – Sense of something being irreparably wrong in life; vulnerability and futility, is present and such a feeling will be present for the remainder of his natural life. [Para 13]
Motor Accident – Compensation – Just compensation – Concept of:
Held: Concept of just compensation rests on the principle of restitutio ad integrum which means restoration to the original condition, as far as possible, taking the person to whom damages are awarded, to a position as if the incident or in this case, the accident, had never occurred – It has certain limitations – Award of compensation, however much it may be, does not give back to the person who affected their life but only alleviates the worry of being able to secure the required amenities. [Para 1]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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