Motor Vehicles Act, 1988:
Fatal accident – Of a 19 years old bachelor – Caused by motor vehicle – Claim for compensation by mother and brother of deceased – Compensation awarded by Tribunal and High Court by using multiplier of 15 on the basis of the age of claimant/mother – Appeal to Supreme Court – Held: Multiplier of 15 was wrongly applied by adopting the age of the dependant and not the deceased – High Court was also wrong in not considering future prospects of the deceased – In view of the age of the deceased, an additional 40% of the established income must be added while computing the compensation – Thus, taking the multiplier of 18, considering the future prospects of the deceased, and granting further amount under conventional heads, the compensation amount is further enhanced.
Partly allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1. The High Court while enhancing the
compensation, did not consider the future prospects of the deceased. The material on record makes it evident that the deceased was self-employed. As the deceased was aged 19 years, an additional 40% of the established income must be added while computing the compensation. In addition, 50% of the said amount has to be deducted in lieu of his personal expenses that he would have incurred to maintain himself as a bachelor, had he been alive. [Paras 8 and 9] [1131-B-C-E] National Insurance Company Limited v. Pranay Sethi and Others (2017) 16 SCC 680 – followed.
2. The High Court has rightly determined monthly salary of the deceased at Rs. 3,918. In addition, 40% of the actual salary income of the deceased has to be added towards the future prospects of the deceased, as his age was less than 40 years. [Para 12] [1133-E]
3. The High Court applied the multiplier at ‘15’, as it took the age of the mother into consideration, and not that of the deceased. Even if the deceased is a bachelor, his age has to be taken into account to adopt a multiplier. [Para 10] [1131-F-G]
Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited v. Mandala Yadagari Goud and Others (2019) 5 SCC 554- relied on.
4. Since the deceased was a bachelor, 50% of his gross income must be deducted towards personal living expenses. Thus, the compensation payable to the claimants towards loss of dependency is Rs. 5,92,488/-(Rs.2,743 x 12 x 18 = Rs. 5,92,488/-). In addition, the claimants are also entitled for a sum of Rs.70,000/- under the conventional heads. Thus, the total compensation payable to the claimants comes to Rs. 6,62,448/. The amount of Rs. 5,02,620/- awarded by the High Court, has to be deducted from the aforesaid amount, therefore, the balance compensation payable to the claimants comes to Rs.1,59,868/-, which is rounded off to Rs. 1,60,000/-. The third respondent/insurance company is directed to deposit a sum of Rs. 1,60,000/- with simple interest at the rate of 7% per annum from the date of the claim petition till the date of deposit. [Paras 12-14] [1132F-H; 1133-A-B]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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