Prior-year income-tax returns cannot be rejected solely because they predate a fatal motor accident.

On 11 February 2018, a bus owned by the appellant Transport Corporation collided with a two-wheeler, killing its rider, Ashok Kumar.

His legal representatives sought ₹1 crore in compensation. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded ₹59,38,545, assessing the deceased’s annual income at ₹3,72,410 based on income-tax records for assessment years 2015–16 and 2016–17.

The Corporation appealed, primarily challenging that income assessment and the resulting compensation award.

1. Whether the Tribunal was justified in fixing the deceased’s annual income at ₹3,72,410 based on Exs. P7 and P8

2. Whether the compensation awarded by the Tribunal required interference

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

The Court assessed whether the Tribunal’s determination, based on the income-tax records in evidence, disclosed a specific error warranting appellate interference.

The judgment cites no precedent or further statutory provision; it does not set out a separate general doctrine on proof of income or compensation.

The Court noted that the deceased was a 37-year-old engaged in cutting contract work and that Exs. P7 and P8 related to the two assessment years preceding the accident.

It held that the age of those returns, by itself, did not justify rejecting them, particularly where the deceased had died before the subsequent assessment could be completed.

The Corporation identified no specific error in the Tribunal’s income finding or in its calculation of compensation that would justify appellate intervention.

It dismissed the appeal and confirmed the Tribunal’s award of ₹59,38,545; there was no order as to costs, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.