Future prospects are not added in injury claims absent the highest degree of disability.

The claimant sought compensation for injuries sustained in a road accident on 29 July 2020 involving a motorcycle and a car.

The Tribunal awarded him ₹4,10,000, including ₹2,92,320 for loss of future earning capacity, and interest at 9% per annum.

The insurer appealed, challenging the assessment of disability and future prospects, as well as the interest rate.

The claimant was served but remained unrepresented in the appeal.

The High Court accepted the Tribunal’s assessment of 8% whole-body disability and monthly income of ₹14,500, but found the addition of 40% future prospects improper.

1. Whether the Tribunal was justified in adding 40% future prospects when calculating the claimant’s loss of future earning capacity.

2. Whether the Tribunal’s award of interest at 9% per annum should be reduced.

The appeal was brought under Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

In assessing injury compensation, the Court held that future prospects should not be added in every injury case, but only in cases of death and injuries involving the highest disability.

The Court also stated that interest should generally reflect the bank rate and considered 6% per annum appropriate in this case.

No precedent was cited.

The Court upheld the Tribunal’s finding of 8% whole-body disability, based on the doctor’s evidence that one-third of the assessed disability was attributable to the whole body, and accepted the monthly income of ₹14,500.

However, because the claimant’s injuries did not fall within the categories for which the Court considered future prospects appropriate, it removed the 40% addition and recalculated loss of future earning capacity at ₹2,08,800, using the multiplier of 15 and 8% disability.

It found the amounts under the other heads just and reasonable.

The Court reduced the interest rate from 9% to 6% per annum, referring to the general bank-rate approach.

The compensation was reduced from ₹4,10,000 to ₹3,26,378, with interest at 6% per annum from the date of the petition until realization.

The insurer was directed to deposit the compensation with accrued interest within eight weeks of receiving the certified copy; disbursement and deposit were left to the Tribunal’s order.

No order as to costs.