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Navjyot Singh . & Ors. v. D.T.C. & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 1199Decided 7 Dec 2017
Civil Appeal No. 20973 of 2017
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

The appellants (dependents of a self-employed man aged 42 who died in a road accident involving a Delhi Transport Corporation vehicle) sought enhanced compensation, after the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal and the Delhi High Court arrived at very different figures for the deceased's monthly income: the Tribunal calculating it at about Rs. 1,46,618 based on post-death income tax returns and colleagues' evidence, while the High Court assessed it at only about Rs. 59,250 based on the same returns.

Decision Breakdown

Applying the Supreme Court's own recent Constitution Bench ruling in National Insurance Company Ltd. vs Pranay Sethi & Ors. (31 October 2017), which allows an addition for "future prospects" in income even for self-employed victims, the Court held the appellants were entitled to a 25% enhancement given the deceased's age. Rather than resolving the sharp dispute over the exact monthly income figure through detailed recalculation, the Court took a practical, "rough and ready" approach and fixed total compensation at Rs. 75,00,000, carrying 9% interest from the date of application, with amounts already paid to be adjusted and the balance paid within three months.

Lesson Learnt

Following the Pranay Sethi ruling, dependents of self-employed accident victims are entitled to a "future prospects" addition on top of proven income when claiming motor accident compensation, and courts may take a fair, practical approach to the final figure rather than getting stuck on conflicting income calculations between the Tribunal and the High Court.

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

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