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Rajwati @ Rajjo & Ors. vs United India Insurance Company Ltd. & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 1267Decided 9 Dec 2022
Civil Appeal No. 8179 of 2022
Krishna Murari · S. Ravindra Bhat · V. Ramasubramanian

Background

Two motorcycle riders, Ghasita Ram and his co-worker Kanti Lal, were killed on 29 October 2013 when a truck hit them from behind while they were returning home from work at PNC Infratech Ltd. Their dependants filed separate compensation claims before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, which awarded compensation based on the deceased's salary certificates and pay slips. On appeal by the insurance company, the Rajasthan High Court slashed the compensation drastically, rejecting the salary documents because the person who issued them was never examined in court, and instead calculated income using the state's minimum wage. Both sets of dependants (in two connected appeals arising from the same accident) approached the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court was wrong to reject the salary certificate and pay slip merely because the issuing official wasn't examined: these documents were corroborated by the testimony of the deceased's wife and co-workers, and motor accident claims cases don't require the strict proof standard used in criminal trials. The Court restored the Tribunal's income assessment (Rs. 11,225/month for the driver-deceased) instead of the High Court's bare minimum-wage figure. It also recalculated future prospects at 30-50% per the five-judge bench ruling in Pranay Sethi (based on age), and substantially raised the "loss of consortium" award to Rs. 44,000 per dependant per the Satinder Kaur precedent, along with higher funeral and estate expenses. Both appeals were allowed, the High Court's orders were set aside, and interest was fixed at 9% per annum.

Lesson Learnt

In motor accident compensation cases, courts should not discard genuine salary documents just because the person who issued them wasn't cross-examined in court, corroborating witness testimony is sufficient, since these proceedings follow a relaxed standard of proof, not the criminal-trial standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.

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

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