Parents And Siblings Of 21-Year-Old Killed By School Bus Get Consortium As P&H HC Raises Total Compensation To ₹22.44 Lakh

On 16 February 2022, Lukman, aged 21, was struck and fatally injured by a school bus while standing beside a motorcycle stopped at the roadside

His parents, brother and sister sought compensation.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded Rs.14,37,800, assessing Lukman’s monthly income at Rs.9,000 and awarding Rs.44,000 for loss of consortium; it allocated compensation to the parents but not the siblings

The claimants appealed, seeking reassessment of income by reference to Haryana’s minimum wage and consortium for each claimant

Where documentary evidence of a deceased person’s income is unavailable, the applicable State minimum wage for an unskilled worker in the relevant district on the date of the accident is to be considered when assessing income

In Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram, the Supreme Court recognised spousal, parental and filial consortium, including a parent’s entitlement to filial consortium on the death of a child

The judgment also applied the compensation-assessment factors set out in its calculation, including future prospects, deduction for personal expenses, multiplier, and conventional sums for loss of estate and funeral expenses

The Tribunal had assessed income at Rs.9,000 per month without documentary support. Since the applicable minimum wage in District Nuh on the accident date was Rs.10,098.88, the Court rounded it to Rs.10,099 and recalculated dependency using 40% future prospects, a one-third deduction for personal expenses and a multiplier of 18

Applying Magma General Insurance, the Court held that consortium was available to all the claimants and included Rs.44,000 for each of the four claimants

The insurer was directed to deposit the enhanced compensation with the Tribunal within two months.

Claimants Nos. 3 and 4 were each to receive Rs.44,000; claimant No. 3’s share was to be kept in a fixed deposit until attaining majority. The balance was to be disbursed to the parents as apportioned by the Tribunal