Widow And Two Sons Get Rs 95,000 More In Fatal-Accident Compensation, With Karnataka HC Awarding Consortium To All Three

The claimants, the deceased’s wife and two children, sought compensation for his death in a road accident on 17 August 2021.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded a total of ₹20,20,000, including ₹40,000 for loss of consortium and ₹15,000 each for loss of estate and funeral expenses.

The claimants appealed under Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, seeking enhancement on the grounds that consortium had been awarded to only one claimant and that the conventional heads did not include a 10% escalation.

Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for an appeal against an award of the Claims Tribunal.

Applying National Insurance Company v. Pranay Sethi, AIR 2017 SC 5157, the Court held that, as the accident occurred more than three years after that decision, a 10% escalation was to be added to the compensation under the conventional heads.

The Court further held that each of the deceased’s three dependants was entitled to consortium of ₹40,000, with the 10% escalation applied.

The deceased’s wife and two children were each entitled to consortium.

With the 10% escalation, consortium totalled ₹1,32,000, compared with the Tribunal’s award of ₹40,000, producing an enhancement of ₹92,000.

Applying the same escalation to the Tribunal’s awards of ₹15,000 each for loss of estate and funeral expenses increased each to ₹16,500, an additional ₹1,500 under each head.

The total enhancement was therefore ₹95,000.

The claimants were awarded an additional ₹95,000, with interest at 6% per annum from the date of the petition until realisation.

The insurer was directed to deposit the enhanced amount and interest with the Tribunal within six weeks; the entire enhanced compensation was to be released to claimant No. 1.