Reliable salary and age records justify recalculating dependency compensation using the correct multiplier and future prospects.

Sanjeev Kulal died from injuries sustained when a car struck him beside NH-66 on 8 May 2014.

His wife and three children brought a claim under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, against the car’s owner and insurer.

The Tribunal found the driver negligent and awarded ₹10,23,800 with interest at 6% per annum.

The claimants appealed, seeking enhancement based on the deceased’s income and age, future prospects, and conventional heads of compensation.

Whether the claimants were entitled to enhanced compensation, including on the basis of the deceased’s income, age, applicable multiplier, and future prospects.

The claim was brought under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the appeal was under Section 173(1) of that Act.

In assessing compensation, the Court considered the deceased’s established income, age, applicable multiplier, and future prospects.

It relied on National Insurance Company Limited v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680, for the treatment of future prospects and conventional heads of compensation; the Court applied a 20% increase to the conventional-head award because more than six years had passed since that decision.

The Court found that the salary and PF records in Ex. P11 supported rounding the deceased’s monthly income to ₹14,000.

It preferred the voter ID, which recorded him as 29 in 1994, to the age in the post-mortem report, and assessed his age at 49 at the time of the accident.

It therefore applied a multiplier of 13 and added 25% for future prospects, deducting 25% for personal expenses, to calculate loss of dependency at ₹20,47,500.

It added consortium for the four claimants, funeral expenses, loss of estate, the 20% increase to conventional heads, and ₹3,000 in medical expenses, arriving at total compensation of ₹22,78,500.

It directed the insurer to deposit the enhanced amount within six weeks and ordered its release to the claimants, subject to the Tribunal’s existing apportionment directions.