Chhattisgarh HC Nearly Triples Compensation For 25-Year-Old Labourer’s Family, Using ₹5,517 Monthly Income And Adding 40% Future Prospects

Harishchandra died following a collision between the motorcycle on which he was travelling and a pickup vehicle on 9 January 2015.

The Claims Tribunal found the pickup driver negligent and the insurer liable, assessed Harishchandra’s monthly income at ₹3,000, and awarded ₹5,51,000 with interest at 9% per annum. His family appealed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, seeking enhancement, including reassessment of income and compensation under applicable heads.

Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, provides for an appeal against an award of the Claims Tribunal; compensation under the Act must be just and proper.

In assessing dependency, the Court applied Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation, (2009) 6 SCC 121, as approved in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680, including the applicable deduction for personal and living expenses and multiplier. It also applied Pranay Sethi to add future prospects and assess conventional heads of compensation.

The Tribunal had assessed income at ₹3,000 per month for want of supporting evidence. The High Court instead used ₹5,517 per month, the stated monthly income of an unskilled labourer at the time of the accident.

It added 40% for future prospects, deducted one-fourth for personal expenses because the deceased was married and had four dependants, and applied the multiplier of 18. This produced dependency compensation of ₹12,51,255.60. The Court also revised the awards for loss of estate, funeral expenses, and consortium under the conventional heads.

The Court enhanced total compensation from ₹5,51,000 to ₹14,86,255.60, with interest at 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition until realization. The remaining terms of the Tribunal’s award were left unchanged, and the parties were directed to bear their own costs.