Personal expense deduction limited to one-third for three dependents and parental consortium awarded to all dependents.

Prateek Aawal, a 22-year-old Executive (HR) at Narayana Hospital, died in a motor accident.

His mother and two unmarried sisters (the appellants) filed a claim under the Motor Vehicles Act.

The 4th Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Raipur, in Claim Case No. 758/2016, awarded a total compensation of ₹9,37,200 via an award dated 17-03-2020.

The appellants preferred this appeal before the High Court of Chhattisgarh seeking enhancement, contending that the Tribunal incorrectly deducted 50% for personal expenses and failed to award compensation for loss of consortium.

1. Whether the Claims Tribunal erred in deducting 1/2 of the deceased's income toward personal expenses when there were three dependents.

2. Whether the appellants are entitled to compensation under the head of 'Loss of Consortium'.

The Court applied Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, regarding appeals.

The Court relied on the landmark principles established in Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation, which dictates that where the number of dependents is 2–3, the deduction for personal expenses should be 1/3.

It further applied National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi regarding future prospects.

The Court applied Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram regarding the mandatory grant of consortium to each dependent.

The Court observed that the deceased had three dependents (mother and two sisters), making the Tribunal's 1/2 deduction for personal expenses legally unsustainable; a 1/3 deduction was required under the Sarla Verma guidelines.

While maintaining the deceased's monthly income at ₹6,000 and the 40% addition for future prospects, the Court recalculated the annual dependency to ₹67,200.

Using the established multiplier of 18, the loss of dependency was revised to ₹12,09,600.

Additionally, the Court found the Tribunal’s omission of 'Loss of Consortium' to be an error of law and awarded ₹40,000 to each of the three dependents, totaling ₹1,20,000.

The Court held that the appellants are entitled to an additional amount of ₹4,22,400.

The respondent Insurance Company was directed to deposit the enhanced amount within 45 days, carrying interest at 9% per annum from the date of the claim application (08-03-2016) until realization.

All other conditions of the original award remained intact.