Gujarat HC Raises Compensation For Families Of Couple Killed In Car-Trailer Crash To ₹29.01 Lakh And ₹12.55 Lakh

In brief

The question

1. Whether the compensation awarded for the driver’s death should be enhanced, including by reassessing the dependency calculation and applying future prospects

The court held

The Court partly allowed both appeals. It enhanced compensation by ₹8,65,400 in First Appeal No. 2333 of 2018 and by ₹6,83,000 in First Appeal No. 3332 of 2018, with interest at 9% on the enhanced amounts

It also directed

The respondent Insurance Company was directed to deposit the additional compensation and interest within eight weeks of receiving the judgment, after which the Tribunal was to disburse the amounts to the claimants by NEFT/RTGS upon verification

01Facts

A car and a trailer were involved in an accident on 18 April 2007, in which the car’s driver and his wife, both travelling in the car, died. The Tribunal attributed responsibility for the accident to the trailer driver and awarded compensation of ₹20,36,000 for the driver’s death and ₹5,72,000 for the wife’s death. The claimants appealed, seeking enhancement of the awards

p. 1

02Issues

i.1. Whether the compensation awarded for the driver’s death should be enhanced, including by reassessing the dependency calculation and applying future prospects

pp. 2–3

ii.2. Whether the income assessed for the wife and the compensation awarded for her death should be enhanced

pp. 2–3

iii.3. Whether the claimants were entitled to additional amounts for consortium and other conventional heads, and interest on the enhanced compensation

pp. 2–4

03Law Applied

The Court relied on National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, AIR 2017 SC 5157, and Reena v. Managing Director, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, 2026 (0) AIJEL-SC 77486, in awarding consortium and other non-pecuniary sums

p. 2

In calculating loss of dependency, the Court applied a 40% addition for future prospects, a deduction for the deceased’s personal expenditure, and a multiplier of 16; it also awarded amounts for consortium, loss of estate, and funeral expenses

pp. 2–3

04Reasoning

For the driver, the Court accepted the Tribunal’s income assessment of ₹1,58,000 annually because it was based on the profit-and-loss account in evidence. It added 40% for future prospects and calculated loss of dependency at ₹26,54,400 using a multiplier of 16

p. 2

For the wife, it considered the Tribunal’s monthly income assessment of ₹3,000 too low and fixed her income at ₹5,000 per month, resulting in loss of dependency of ₹10,08,000

p. 2

The Court then added ₹2,08,000 for consortium and other non-pecuniary sums, and ₹19,500 each for loss of estate and funeral expenses, producing totals of ₹29,01,400 and ₹12,55,000 respectively

pp. 2–3

The judgment’s narrative refers to a one-fourth deduction for personal expenditure, while its calculation tables specify a one-third deduction; the tables’ calculations reflect the one-third deduction

pp. 2–3