Karnataka HC Enhances Compensation For Parents Of 23-Year-Old Accident Victim To ₹19.6 Lakh, Fixing His Income At ₹12,000 A Month

In brief

The question

1. Whether the Tribunal had correctly assessed the deceased’s income and calculated loss of dependency, including the appropriate deduction for personal expenses, future prospects and multiplier.

The court held

The Court partly allowed both appeals and modified the Tribunal’s award.

It also directed

It held that the claimants were entitled to ₹19,60,810, with interest at 9% per annum from the date of the petition until realization.

The insurer was directed to deposit the compensation and accrued interest before the Tribunal within eight weeks of receiving a certified copy of the judgment; the Registry was directed to transmit any amount already deposited and draw a modified award.

01Facts

The claimants, the parents of a 23-year-old bachelor who died in a motor-vehicle accident, brought a claim under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

p. 4

The Tribunal awarded total compensation of ₹15,25,000.

p. 4

The insurer appealed, disputing the deceased’s income, the deduction for personal expenses, the conventional heads of compensation and the 9% interest rate.

p. 4

The claimants cross-appealed, seeking future prospects and application of multiplier 18.

p. 5

The parties did not dispute the accident or the insurer’s liability.

p. 4

02Issues

i.1. Whether the Tribunal had correctly assessed the deceased’s income and calculated loss of dependency, including the appropriate deduction for personal expenses, future prospects and multiplier.

pp. 4–7

ii.2. Whether the amounts awarded under conventional heads and the 9% interest rate required modification.

p. 4, 7

03Law Applied

Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides the basis for a claim for compensation arising from a motor accident.

p. 4

In reassessing compensation, the Court applied National Insurance Company Limited v. Pranay Sethi, 2017 (16) SCC 680, to add 40% of the deceased’s income towards future prospects.

p. 7

For a 23-year-old deceased, the Court applied multiplier 18; because he was an unmarried bachelor, it deducted 50% of his income towards personal expenses.

p. 7

The Court assessed consortium, funeral expenses and loss of estate under conventional heads.

p. 7

Provisions in the judgment · 2 · Linked ones open on LawLens

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 Section 173 Section 166

04Reasoning

The Court accepted the employer’s certificate and testimony, together with the muster roll, as establishing that the deceased earned ₹400 per day, or ₹12,000 per month; it therefore rejected the Tribunal’s income assessment of ₹15,000.

pp. 5–6

Applying 40% future prospects, a 50% deduction for personal expenses and multiplier 18, it assessed loss of dependency at ₹18,14,400.

p. 7

It also reassessed consortium at ₹1,06,480, and funeral expenses and loss of estate at ₹19,965 each, making total compensation ₹19,60,810.

p. 7

The Court declined to reduce the 9% interest rate, finding no reason to interfere with it.

p. 8