P&H HC Raises Compensation For Hari Chand’s Widow, Mother And 4 Children To ₹10.83 Lakh, Counting His Salary Allowances

The appellants, the deceased Hari Chand’s mother, wife and four children, sought enhancement of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal’s award of ₹3,11,980 for his death in a motor accident on 23 July 2000.

The Tribunal assessed his monthly income at ₹2,933, excluding allowances shown in his salary certificate, applied a multiplier of 13 and deducted one-third for personal expenses.

The claimants appealed only on quantum; no respondent challenged the Tribunal’s negligence findings.

The High Court condoned delays of 49 days in refiling and 27 days in filing the appeal.

Under National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, 2017 (16) SCC 680, future prospects are added to income in accordance with the deceased’s age and employment circumstances.

Under Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009 (6) SCC 121, the multiplier is selected by reference to the deceased’s age, and the personal-expenses deduction depends on the number of dependants.

Allowances forming part of salary and available for the family’s benefit are included in income; allowances exclusively required for official duties may be excluded.

The Court also awarded conventional sums for funeral expenses, loss of estate and consortium.

The Court accepted the salary certificate as proof of monthly earnings but found no corroborative evidence of a dairy business, so it rejected the alleged dairy income.

It held that the listed allowances were part of the deceased’s gross earnings and were not shown to be exclusively duty-related; accordingly, it assessed monthly income at ₹3,795.

Given the deceased’s age of 30, the Court added 40% for future prospects, applied a multiplier of 17 and deducted one-fourth for personal expenses because there were six dependants.

It then added the specified conventional-head amounts for the mother, wife and children.

The Court reassessed total compensation at ₹10,82,940, an enhancement of ₹7,70,960 over the Tribunal’s award.

The enhanced compensation carries interest at 7.5% from the date of the claim petition until realization, except for conventional heads, on which interest runs from August 2017.

Apportionment and liability remain as directed in the Tribunal’s award.

The Court also stated that the claimants could seek any amount arising from the Supreme Court’s decision on the conventional-head reference in Hasina Yasmin by an appropriate application, if that decision favoured them.