01Facts
The claimants, the widow and three sons of Basant Saraf, appealed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, seeking enhancement of compensation awarded for his death in a road accident on 4 September 2021.
¶ 6–7The Claims Tribunal had awarded Rs. 9,49,426, assessing the deceased’s monthly income at Rs. 8,000 and awarding Rs. 70,000 under conventional heads.
¶ 6–7The claimants sought assessment of income at the applicable minimum wage and enhancement under conventional heads.
¶ 6–7The High Court condoned a delay of 236 days, admitted the appeal, and heard it finally with the parties’ consent.
¶ 1–502Issues
i.Whether the Tribunal’s assessment of the deceased’s monthly income at Rs. 8,000 should be increased to the applicable minimum wage of Rs. 9,200
¶ 7, 10ii.Whether the compensation awarded under conventional heads should be enhanced to account for all legal heirs’ entitlement to consortium
¶ 7, 1003Law Applied
Under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, an award of the Claims Tribunal may be challenged before the High Court.
¶ 6In computing compensation, the Court applied National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, Sarla Verma & Ors. v. Delhi Transport Corporation & Ors., and Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors.
¶ 11It applied a multiplier of 5 for the deceased’s age of 66, deducted one-half of income for personal and living expenses where only the widow was treated as dependent, and added no future prospects.
¶ 10–11It also applied the principle that each eligible legal heir may receive consortium, with a 10% increase to the conventional amounts.
¶ 10Provisions in the judgment · 1 · Linked ones open on LawLens
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 Section 173
04Reasoning
The claimants asserted that the deceased earned Rs. 55,000 per month from his jewellery business, but produced no supporting documents.
¶ 10The Court therefore assessed his income at Rs. 9,200 per month, the applicable minimum wage for unskilled labour, rather than the Tribunal’s Rs. 8,000.
¶ 10Applying the one-half deduction and multiplier of 5 resulted in a dependency award of Rs. 2,76,000.
¶ 10–11The Court also found the Tribunal’s Rs. 70,000 award under conventional heads insufficient: applying the 10% increase and consortium for all four claimants, it assessed those heads at Rs. 2,09,000.
¶ 10–11Medical expenses remained unchanged.
¶ 1105Holding
The High Court partly allowed the appeal and enhanced total compensation from Rs. 9,49,426 to Rs. 11,24,426.
¶ 12–13The claimants were awarded an additional Rs. 1,75,000, carrying interest at 6% per annum from the date the appeal was filed, 23 June 2025, until realization.
¶ 12–13The remaining terms of the Tribunal’s award were left intact.
¶ 12–13The Registry was directed to communicate the enhanced amount to the claimants in Hindi, with paralegal assistance if required.
¶ 14Original Court PDF
RITA SARAFvsHARISH KUMAR DEWANGAN
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