Motor accident compensation may be enhanced where the claimant accepts and the insurer leaves the amount to the Court’s discretion.

Kishore Malick appealed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, seeking enhancement of compensation for injuries sustained in a motor-vehicle accident.

The Tribunal had awarded him ₹40,000 with simple interest at 6% per annum from the date of the claim application, 31 January 2007, until realization.

The insurer had satisfied that award without challenging it.

The appeal arose from a common judgment in MAC Case Nos. 3 and 6 of 2007.

The vehicle owner had been set ex parte before the Tribunal; notice to that respondent was dispensed with under Order XLI Rule 14(4) of the CPC.

Whether the claimant was entitled to enhancement of the compensation awarded for his accident-related injuries

Whether a further sum of ₹20,000, proposed by the Court and accepted by the claimant, should be awarded as full and final settlement of the appeal

Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, provides for an appeal against an award of a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

The Court also referred to Order XLI Rule 14(4) of the CPC as the basis for dispensing with notice to the owner, who had been set ex parte before the Tribunal.

In considering the proposed enhancement, the Court cited Taslim Parvin & Another v. (Smt.) Usha Devi & Another, 2018(2) TAC 22 (SC), without setting out a specific legal proposition from that decision.

The claimant sought enhancement, and counsel for both sides addressed the proposed quantum.

The claimant, through counsel and by filing a memo, accepted the Court’s proposal of an additional ₹20,000; the insurer did not dispute the proposal and left the matter to the Court’s discretion.

In light of that acceptance and the cited precedent, the Court concluded that the interests of justice would be served by awarding the proposed amount.

Any enhanced amount deposited is to be disbursed to the claimant in cash, and the proper court fee payable on the appeal is to be realized from him.