Railway Guard’s Family Gets No Increase In ₹1.41 Crore Crash Award As Chhattisgarh HC Upholds Exclusion Of Variable Allowance

The deceased, A. Uma Maheshwar Rao, a Senior Passenger Guard in the Railways, died after a motorcycle driven by respondent Pileshwar Kumar struck him on 13 December 2020.

His wife, children and mother claimed compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Durg, awarded ₹1,41,49,531 with interest.

The claimants appealed under Section 173, seeking enhancement on the ground that the Tribunal had not included the deceased’s K.M.A. allowance when assessing his income.

Sections 166 and 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 respectively provide for a compensation claim arising from a motor-vehicle accident and an appeal against an award of the Claims Tribunal.

In assessing income for compensation, the court considered the salary records and whether the disputed allowance was a regular, consistently payable component of the deceased’s earnings.

The judgment cites no precedent.

The Tribunal had considered the salary slips, accepted the other allowances, and excluded K.M.A. because it was not paid uniformly each month; the amount depended on the hours and days the deceased worked on duty.

The High Court found that treatment justified.

It also found no error in the Tribunal’s income assessment or in its treatment of the other compensation components, and concluded that no basis for enhancement had been established.

It dismissed the appeal and directed that the Tribunal’s record be returned for necessary action.