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Hansa Devi v. S.B.I. General Insurance Company Limited

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 706Decided 15 May 2025
C.A. No.-006885-006885 - 2025
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

The appellants (the widow, three minor children, and parents of a 28-year-old truck driver) sought compensation after he was struck and killed by a rashly-driven truck while boarding his own parked vehicle. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded Rs. 23,07,000 total, based on an assumed monthly salary of Rs. 10,000 with 40% added for future prospects, along with separate amounts for loss of consortium to the wife, children, and parents. On the insurance company's appeal, the High Court sharply cut the award to Rs. 12,34,105 by reducing the assumed salary to the minimum wage for a driver (Rs. 5,434) and cutting the consortium amount for the children and parents.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court restored the Tribunal's original, higher award, holding the High Court was wrong to reduce the assumed income. Relying on its own precedent that even an unskilled labourer's income would rise incrementally over the years, the Court found that a heavy-vehicle driver's monthly wage of Rs. 10,000 by 2014 (the year of the accident) was reasonable and should stand. It also held that its precedent recognizes that not just spouses but children and parents too are entitled to compensation for loss of consortium (the loss of a family member's care, companionship, and guidance), so the Tribunal's separate awards to the children and parents for this were reinstated. The insurer was directed to deposit the full amount, with interest, within two months, to be apportioned among the family members, with minors' shares kept in fixed deposits until they reach majority.

Lesson Learnt

When assessing compensation in motor accident death claims, courts should account for realistic wage growth over time rather than pinning income to bare minimum-wage figures, and loss-of-consortium compensation is available not only to a surviving spouse but to children and parents of the deceased as well.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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