Lokesh B v. Suryanarayana Raju Jaggaraju & Anr.
Background
The appellant, a 38-year-old tailor, suffered grievous head and bodily injuries, including skull fractures and vision-impairing optic nerve trauma, in a collision on the Peenya flyover, Bengaluru, when his car struck a lorry allegedly parked without warning lights. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded compensation with a 35% disability finding and 20% deduction for the claimant's contributory negligence; the Karnataka High Court revised the assessed monthly income upward but removed the future-prospects addition, while keeping the disability at 35%. The claimant appealed to the Supreme Court seeking restoration of future prospects and a higher disability assessment, while accepting the 20% contributory negligence finding.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that self-employed accident victims are entitled to an addition for future prospects, citing its precedents in Santosh Devi v. National Insurance Co. and National Insurance Co. v. Pranay Sethi, and added 40% to the accepted monthly income of ₹9,500 on that basis. On disability, the Court found the Tribunal and High Court had adopted 35% "without any reasoning," disregarding unrebutted expert testimony from a NIMHANS neuropsychologist who scientifically assessed functional disability at 41.77%. The Court adopted this higher, evidence-backed figure instead. Recalculating loss of future earning capacity and combining it with the other compensation heads already awarded, the Court raised the total compensation from ₹13,44,712 to a net payable amount of ₹16,60,891 (after the agreed 20% deduction), with 6% annual interest from the date of the claim petition, to be deposited by the insurer within six weeks.
Lesson Learnt
In motor accident compensation cases, courts must ground disability percentages in credible, unrebutted medical evidence rather than adopting round figures without reasoning, and self-employed claimants are legally entitled to a future-prospects addition just like salaried employees.