Each claimant is entitled to individual consortium, with conventional heads enhanced by 10%.

Gore Lal Patil died from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident on 25 January 2022.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Pathalgaon, awarded his claimants compensation of ₹32,95,000 by award dated 31 January 2025.

The claimants appealed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, seeking enhancement of compensation under the conventional heads.

The appeal was filed 344 days late; the High Court condoned the delay and heard the appeal finally with the parties’ consent.

The Tribunal had awarded ₹15,000 for loss of estate, ₹15,000 for funeral expenses, and ₹40,000 for loss of consortium.

Whether the 344-day delay in filing the appeal should be condoned.

Whether the compensation under the conventional heads required enhancement, including consortium for each of the six claimants.

Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for an appeal against an award of a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

Applying National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680, the Court held that the amounts under the conventional heads of loss of estate and funeral expenses, and the amount for consortium, were to be enhanced by 10% in view of the accident date.

The Court further treated each of the six claimants as entitled to consortium of ₹44,000.

The Court accepted the reasons given in the delay-condonation application and allowed the 344-day delay.

On the merits, it found that the Tribunal’s conventional-head awards required a 10% enhancement under Pranay Sethi: loss of estate and funeral expenses were recalculated at ₹16,500 each, and consortium at ₹44,000 per claimant.

With six claimants, consortium totalled ₹2,64,000, making the revised conventional-head total ₹2,97,000.

After deducting the ₹70,000 already awarded, the claimants were entitled to an additional ₹2,27,000.

It enhanced compensation by ₹2,27,000, payable with interest at 6% per annum from 17 April 2026, the date the appeal was filed, until realization.

The remaining terms of the Tribunal’s award were left unchanged, and the Registry was directed to communicate the enhanced amount to the claimants in Hindi.