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Rasmita Biswal v. Divisional Manager, National Insurance Co. Ltd.

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 844Decided 8 Dec 2021
Civil Appeal No. 7549 of 2021
Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice Krishna Murari

Background

The appellants, the widow and two minor sons of a man killed in a motor vehicle accident in 2013, sought compensation from the vehicle's owner and insurer. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal first awarded about Rs. 12.9 lakh; after the High Court remitted the matter, the Tribunal re-awarded Rs. 22.6 lakh. On a further appeal by the insurer, the Orissa High Court reduced this to Rs. 17 lakh, prompting the claimants to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court reviewed the High Court's recalculation of compensation (covering heads like loss of dependency, future prospects, and conventional heads) and modified the award, directing the insurer to deposit the revised amount with interest at 7.5% per annum within eight weeks. Beyond deciding the specific compensation figures, the Court separately flagged a systemic concern: the large volume of pending Motor Vehicles Act appeals clogging High Courts, and recommended that the government consider constituting dedicated "Motor Vehicle Appellate Tribunals" (staffed by senior District Judges, with regional benches) to speed up such appeals, directing its Registry to forward the judgment to the Department of Justice for consideration.

Lesson Learnt

Compensation in motor accident death claims is calculated using structured heads (loss of dependency, future prospects, conventional amounts) that courts can revise on appeal, and claimants/insurers can seek correction of these calculations up to the Supreme Court; separately, the Court used this case to push for systemic reform to reduce long delays in accident-compensation appeals.

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

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