Conventional compensation heads attract 10% enhancement, with consortium payable separately to each claimant.

Sheela Khadiya died from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident on 10 July 2020 involving Trailer No. C.G. 07 B.P. 5655.

Her claimants, Sonafulo Khadiya and Dharam Singh Khadiya, challenged the award dated 29 November 2022 passed by the Second Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur, in Claim Case No. 459/2020, which awarded total compensation of ₹14,49,632.

The appeal was confined to the Tribunal’s failure to grant the applicable 10% enhancement under the conventional heads of loss of estate, funeral expenses, and loss of consortium.

1. Whether the claimants were entitled to a 10% enhancement in the amounts awarded under the conventional heads in view of the accident having occurred on 10 July 2020 and the principles laid down in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi.

2. Whether both claimants were entitled to separate amounts towards loss of consortium.

The Court applied the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680, under which the amounts payable towards conventional heads—including loss of estate, funeral expenses, and consortium—are subject to a 10% enhancement after the prescribed period.

It further recognized that each of the two claimants was entitled to consortium separately.

The Tribunal had awarded ₹15,000 towards loss of estate, ₹15,000 towards funeral expenses, and ₹40,000 towards loss of consortium under the conventional heads.

Since the accident occurred in 2020, the Court applied the 10% enhancement mandated by Pranay Sethi, increasing the first two heads to ₹16,500 each and consortium to ₹44,000. As there were two claimants, the consortium amount was calculated at ₹44,000 each, totalling ₹88,000.

The total compensation under the conventional heads was therefore recalculated at ₹1,21,000, as against ₹1,10,000 awarded by the Tribunal, resulting in an additional entitlement of ₹11,000.

The enhanced amount was directed to carry interest at 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition until realization, while the remaining terms and conditions of the Tribunal’s award were left unaltered.

The Registry was directed to communicate the enhanced amount to the claimants in Hindi, with assistance from paralegal workers if necessary.