Karnataka High Court uses skilled-worker minimum wage to calculate compensation for toddler’s death, raising award to ₹17.69 lakh for parents

The appellants, the parents of a 1½-year-old child, sought compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, after their child died in an accident involving a KSRTC bus on 31 October 2019.

The claimants’ case was that the bus driver’s sudden braking caused the child to fall through a window and the bus to topple; the respondents contended that the accident occurred while the driver was avoiding an oncoming lorry.

The Tribunal awarded global compensation of ₹4,00,000.

The parents appealed under Section 173(1), seeking enhancement.

1. Whether the claimants were entitled to enhancement of compensation for the death of their minor child

2. Whether the child’s income for calculating loss of dependency should be assessed by reference to the minimum wages prescribed for a skilled worker in Karnataka

Sections 166 and 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 govern the compensation claim and appeal, respectively.

Under Reshma Kumari v. Madan Mohan, as affirmed in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, a multiplier of 15 applies in death cases where the deceased was aged up to 15 years; the Court also applied the principles on future prospects and personal-expense deductions stated in Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation and Pranay Sethi.

Relying on Baby Sakshi Greola v. Manzoor Ahmad Simon and the subsequent decisions cited in the judgment, including Hitesh Nagjibhai Patel v. Bababhai Nagjibhai Rabari, the Court treated the minimum wage for a skilled worker as the appropriate income benchmark for a deceased child.

It also referred to Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram and Pranay Sethi for conventional heads of compensation.

The Court held that the Tribunal’s global award of ₹4,00,000 did not reflect the principles in the cited Supreme Court decisions.

Although Thangavel v. Managing Director, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd. had confirmed monthly income of ₹5,000 in the circumstances of that case, the Court preferred the skilled-worker minimum-wage approach as more favourable to claimants in this beneficial-legislation context.

Because the claimants resided in Zone IV of Chitradurga Taluk, the Court adopted the stated monthly minimum wage of ₹12,989, added 40% for future prospects, deducted 50% for the child’s personal expenses, and applied a multiplier of 15 to calculate loss of dependency.

It added amounts for consortium, loss of estate, and transportation of the body and funeral expenses.

The enhanced compensation carries interest at 6% per annum from the petition date until realization, excluding the delayed period of 225 days.

The respondents were directed to deposit the compensation with accrued interest within six weeks of receiving the certified judgment; apportionment, disbursement, and deposit were left to the Tribunal’s order.