Injured Farmer’s Compensation Raised To Rs 13.17 Lakh As P&H HC Assesses 40% Functional Disability Based On Physical Toil

On 12 December 2017, the claimant, an agriculturist, was injured when his motorcycle was struck by a car allegedly driven negligently.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded him ₹5,18,879 with interest at 7.5% per annum, assessing his functional disability at 15%, notwithstanding a medical assessment of 40% permanent disability in his right upper and lower limbs.

He appealed for enhancement, contending that his functional disability should be assessed at 40% and that future prospects should be added to his income.

Under Sections 166 and 168 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, compensation for personal injury must be just and reflect the claimant’s actual loss of earning capacity.

Functional disability is assessed by considering the effect of the injury on the claimant’s work and livelihood, rather than mechanically adopting the medical percentage of physical impairment.

In National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, 2017 (4) RCR (Civil) 1009, future prospects were recognised as an addition to income in calculating compensation; Pappu Deo Yadav v. Naresh Kumar, 2022 (13) SCC 790, affirmed that such an addition may also be made in permanent-disability cases.

For a claimant below 40 years, the Court applied a 40% addition for future prospects.

The claimant’s 40% medical disability affected both his right upper and lower limbs.

Because he worked as an agriculturist and depended on physical labour, the injuries impaired his ability to undertake tasks such as operating machinery and using tools.

The Court therefore considered the Tribunal’s 15% functional-disability assessment too low and assessed functional disability at 40%.

Applying Pappu Deo Yadav and the Pranay Sethi principle, it added 40% to the claimant’s annual income of ₹1,14,636, then applied the 40% functional disability and multiplier of 17 to calculate loss of future earnings at ₹10,91,332.

The claimant was held entitled to total compensation of ₹13,17,896, including an enhancement of ₹7,99,017, with interest at 7.5% per annum from the date of filing the claim petition until realisation.

Respondents 1, 2 and 4 were directed to deposit the enhanced compensation jointly and severally within two months; the Tribunal was directed to disburse it to the claimant.