Families Of Punjab Police Constable And BSF Driver Killed In 1997 Crash Get Rs 12.42 Lakh More As P&H HC Adds 50% Future Prospects

The appeals arose from a motor-vehicle accident on 2 August 1997, in which Baldev Singh and Sewak Singh died.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Faridkot, awarded compensation of ₹7,41,400 to Baldev Singh’s claimants and ₹6,19,000 to Sewak Singh’s claimants.

The claimants appealed, seeking enhancement; no respondent challenged the Tribunal’s findings on negligence.

Baldev Singh was a 25-year-old Punjab Police constable earning ₹5,400 per month, with five dependants. Sewak Singh was a 28-year-old BSF driver earning ₹4,462 per month, with three dependants.

The Court applied National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, 2017 (16) SCC 680, for adding future prospects to the income of a deceased person in regular, stable government employment; for these deceased persons, it applied a 50% addition.

It applied Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009 (6) SCC 121, to select the multiplier based on age and determine the deduction for personal expenses by reference to the number of dependants: multiplier 18 for a deceased aged 25 and multiplier 17 for a deceased aged 28; deductions of one-fourth for five dependants and one-third for three dependants.

The Court also awarded conventional sums for funeral expenses, loss of estate, and consortium, while noting that the claimants could seek any increased amounts if the Supreme Court’s pending reference in Hasina Yasmin v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 2919, was answered in their favour.

In Baldev Singh’s case, the Court accepted the Tribunal’s income assessment but found that the deceased’s regular government employment justified a 50% future-prospects addition.

It revised the multiplier from 17 to 18 for his age of 25 and reduced the personal-expense deduction from one-third to one-fourth because there were five dependants. This produced a loss-of-dependency award of ₹13,12,200.

In Sewak Singh’s case, the Court likewise accepted the Tribunal’s income assessment, added 50% for future prospects, retained multiplier 17 for his age of 28, and retained a one-third deduction for his three dependants, yielding loss of dependency of ₹9,10,248.

It added compensation under the conventional heads in each case.

Total compensation was enhanced to ₹15,42,200 in Baldev Singh’s case, an increase of ₹8,00,800, and to ₹10,60,248 in Sewak Singh’s case, an increase of ₹4,41,248.

The enhanced compensation, except amounts under the conventional heads, carries interest at 7.5% from the date the claim petitions were filed until realization; interest on the enhanced conventional-head amounts runs from August 2017 until realization. Apportionment and liability remain as set out in the Tribunal’s award.