Nutan Rani and Anr. vs Gurmail Singh and Ors.

Court

Supreme Court of India

Date

20 July 2018

Case No.

Civil Appeal No. 6639 of 2018

Result

Allowed

Bench

Dipak Misra, D.Y. Chandrachud, A.M. Khanwilkar

Citation

[2018] 6 S.C.R. 607 : 2018 INSC 621

Headnote

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 – s. 166 – Compensation – Award of – Death in motor accident of 30 years old salesman having salary of Rs.3,000 per month – Computation of income of the deceased – Addition on account of future prospects – Deduction of one-third towards personal expenditure – Propriety of – Held: While computing income of the deceased, an addition of 40% on account of towards future prospects, in view of the age of the deceased, is warranted as also deduction of one-third towards personal expenses is proper – High Court erred in not granting the benefit of future prospects in computing the income of the deceased – Total compensation payable to the legal heirs calculated accordingly. A 30 years old salesman died in a motor vehicle accident and his heirs were awarded compensation by the tribunal which was enhanced by the High Court. In the instant appeal, issue arose whether the High Court while computing the income of the deceased was correct in not adding on account of future prospects and deducting 1/3rd of the amount towards personal expenditure.

Allowing the appeal, the Court

HELD: The High Court erred in not granting the benefit of future prospects in computing the income of the deceased. Having due regard to *National Insurance Company Ltd. v Pranay Sethi’s case, an addition of 40% on account of towards future prospects, in view of the age of the deceased, is warranted. The deduction of one-third towards personal expenses is proper. The total compensation payable to the appellants in terms of the judgment in Pranay Sethi is computed as Rs.6,41,200/-. Interest is allowed on the said amount at 9 per cent per annum from the date of the petition until payment. [Paras 6-8][609-D-F; 610-A-B]

*National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi (2017) 16 SCC 680 – referred to.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DR. D. Y. CHANDRACHUD, J. 1. The appeal is from a judgment of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh dated 23 February 2011, in a first appeal against a decision of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh. 2. The appellants are the heirs and legal representatives of Ashok Kumar who died as a result of an accident on 31 March 1994. He was 30 years old at the time of the accident and worked as a commission agent/salesman with a firm in Ludhiana. The accident took place while he was travelling in a bus belonging to the Chandigarh T

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