M. K. Gopinathan v. J. Krishna
Background
A man working as a tool and die engineer in Malaysia lost his right arm after a bus struck the jeep in which he was travelling in Kerala. He claimed that his monthly earnings were ₹50,000, but did not provide reliable income documents. The lower courts used much smaller notional income figures to calculate compensation, and he sought an increase.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal and assessed monthly income at ₹8,000, relying on his undisputed engineering qualification and overseas employment while declining to accept the unsupported ₹50,000 claim. Using the assessed seventy per cent disability and multiplier of seventeen, it increased the earning-capacity component and other specified compensation heads. The operative calculation awarded ₹7,90,000 more, with six per cent annual interest from the claim petition until deposit. No costs were ordered.
Lesson Learnt
Missing salary records do not require courts to ignore established qualifications and employment when assessing injury compensation. They do, however, prevent a claimant's unsupported salary figure from being accepted automatically.