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Roopwati & Ors. vs. Ram Kishan & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 1089Decided 14 Oct 2022
Civil Appeal No. 6818 of 2022
Hemant Gupta · Sudhanshu Dhulia

Background

The deceased, Hari Ram, died from injuries suffered in a 2010 road accident while riding a three-wheeler in Haryana that toppled due to alleged rash and negligent driving by the driver (respondent no. 1), whose vehicle was insured with respondent no. 3 (IFFCO TOKIO General Insurance). His widow, son, and mother filed a compensation claim before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, which awarded Rs. 4,33,000 using a multiplier of 9 (based on the deceased's age being recorded as 60). The claimants appealed to the Punjab & Haryana High Court seeking enhanced compensation.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court found, based on scientific evidence, that the deceased's actual age was 50, not 60, and accordingly applied a higher multiplier of 13 (per the Sarla Verma guidelines) instead of 9, also granting an amount for future prospects that the Tribunal had denied and raising the interest rate from 7% to 7.5%. This increased the total compensation to Rs. 6,55,000. The Supreme Court, hearing the claimants' further appeal, held that the High Court had correctly awarded the compensation and found no reason to interfere, dismissing the appeal with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

In motor accident compensation cases, the correct multiplier under the Sarla Verma framework depends on the deceased's actual (scientifically established) age, not merely the age recorded in initial documents, and courts must also account for future prospects when computing compensation.

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

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