BENGALURU: The multiplier used to quantify the
compensation amount
in
accident cases
has to be based on the age of the deceased, the high court has ruled.
The court made this observation while rejecting the contentions put forward by the
Oriental Insurance Company Limited
which claimed the age of the mother of the deceased has to be taken into consideration while calculating the amount.
Rejecting the company’s claim, Justice HT Narendra Prasad noted that as per the Supreme Court verdict in Pranay Sethi’s case, if the deceased had a permanent job and is aged below 40, an addition of 50% has to be made towards loss of future prospects.
The judge has directed the
Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal
in Udupi to disburse Rs 6.96 lakh with interest deposited by the insurance company to the parents of Jyothi who died in an accident on January 31, 2014. Around 8.30 am, Jyothi was riding pillion on a motorbike of Nagaraj. They were going along Venoor-Guruvayanakere state highway and when they reached Badhyaru Achin Cross, a truck coming from Moodbidri hit their vehicle. Jyothi was thrown on to the road and came under the wheels of the truck.
Jyothi’s parents, Srinivas Servegar, 85, and Rathna, 72, moved the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal (MACT), Udupi. On October 3, 2016, the tribunal awarded Rs 6.96 lakh with 6% interest from the date of claim till the realization as compensation. But, the company moved the HC, contending that the tribunal had erred in taking the multiplier based on the age of the victim. It claimed the tribunal was unjustified in adding 50% of income of the victim towards “loss of future prospects” while calculating the loss of dependency.
Justice Narendra Prasad, however, negated these contentions while relying on the SC’s dictum.
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