P&H HC Raises Compensation By Rs 13 Lakh For Family Of 62-Year-Old Woman Killed In 1998 Crash

In brief

The question

1. Whether the Tribunal had correctly assessed the deceased persons’ incomes, future prospects, personal-expense deductions and applicable multipliers when calculating dependency compensation.

The court held

The appeals were allowed.

It also directed

Compensation was enhanced to Rs. 15,01,255 for Kusum Bagroy’s death, Rs. 19,13,338 for Satish Bagroy’s death, and Rs. 17,90,000 for Vijay Bhanot’s death; the respective enhancements were Rs. 7,66,255, Rs. 9,78,338 and Rs. 13,03,000.

Bharamdutt’s award was enhanced by Rs. 15,000, making the total award Rs. 30,000.

For the three death claims, enhanced compensation other than the conventional heads carries interest at 7.5% per annum from the date of the claim petition, while interest on the enhanced conventional heads runs from August 2017; the injury-claim enhancement carries 7.5% interest from the date of the claim petition.

Apportionment and liability remain as ordered by the Tribunal.

01Facts

Four appeals challenged a common award dated 12 August 2003 of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Panchkula, arising from a 14 December 1998 accident involving a TATA 407.

¶ 1

The appeals sought enhancement of compensation for the deaths of Kusum Bagroy, Satish Bagroy and Vijay Bhanot, and for injuries suffered by Bharamdutt.

¶ 1

The findings on negligence were not challenged; the High Court addressed the quantum of compensation.

¶ 2

The Tribunal had awarded Rs. 7,35,000, Rs. 9,35,000, Rs. 4,87,000 and Rs. 15,000, respectively.

¶ 4, 14, 23, 30

02Issues

i.1. Whether the Tribunal had correctly assessed the deceased persons’ incomes, future prospects, personal-expense deductions and applicable multipliers when calculating dependency compensation.

¶ 5–10, 15–21, 24–29

ii.2. Whether the claimants were entitled to compensation under conventional heads, including funeral expenses, loss of estate and consortium.

¶ 5, 11, 20, 28

iii.3. Whether the compensation awarded to the injured claimant required enhancement in light of the evidence of his injuries and treatment.

¶ 31

03Law Applied

Under National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, 2017 (16) SCC 680, future prospects are added to income according to the applicable category and age; under Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009 (6) SCC 121, personal and living expenses are deducted and the multiplier is selected by reference to the deceased’s age.

¶ 7, 9, 17–18

The Court applied Rashmirekha Tripathy v. The Branch Manager (Legal Claims), Sriram General Insurance Co. Ltd., 2026 INSC 661, for the approach that, in assessing a self-employed person’s income, the average of three years’ income-tax returns may be used to account for fluctuations, whereas one year’s return may suffice for a salaried person.

¶ 7, 9, 17–18

The Court also applied conventional-head awards of Rs. 15,000 each for funeral expenses and loss of estate, and Rs. 40,000 for consortium, while noting that the claimants could seek any additional entitlement if the Supreme Court’s reference in Hasina Yasmin v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 2919, were answered in their favour.

¶ 11, 20, 28

04Reasoning

For Kusum and Satish Bagroy, the Court used the average of three years’ tax returns, added 25% for future prospects, deducted one-third for personal expenses and applied multipliers of 15 and 14 respectively, based on their ages of 40 and 42.

¶ 6–10, 16–19

It added the specified conventional-head amounts, including parental consortium for the dependent claimant(s).

¶ 11–12, 20–21

For Vijay Bhanot, aged 62, it accepted monthly income of Rs. 30,000, added no future prospects, deducted one-third for personal expenses and applied a multiplier of 7; it awarded spousal and parental consortium to the husband and son.

¶ 25–29

For Bharamdutt, the absence of proof of disability or detailed evidence of injury led the Court to treat the injuries as simple, but his hospitalisation and treatment supported compensation for expenses and treatment-related losses, including pain and suffering and loss of income.

¶ 31