Unborn Child Of Deceased Motor Accident Victim Entitled To Compensation: Punjab & Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of the Appeals filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act by the legal representatives of the deceased motor accident victim.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a child in a mother's womb is also entitled to compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act.
The Court disposed of the Appeals filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (the MV Act) by the claimants, legal representatives of the deceased motor accident victim, seeking enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Tribunal).
A Single Bench of Justice Suvir Sehgal held, “Rakesh Kumar’s widow was pregnant at the time of the accident. A male child was born on 18.11.2015, after almost two months of the death of Rakesh Kumar. Even though, the child was in the mother’s womb on the day of the unfortunate accident, he will also be entitled to compensation under MV Act.”
Advocate Ravi Dutt Sharma appeared for the Appellants, while Advocate Sanjay Verma represented the Respondents.
Brief Facts
The victim died in a road accident when his motorcycle was hit by a tractor driven carelessly. An FIR was lodged under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC. The claimants filed a claim Petition under Section 166 of the MV Act, which was partly accepted.
Court’s Reasoning
The High Court noted that the Tribunal assessed the compensation by assuming the income of the deceased, who was running a building material shop and was 24 years of age.
“Deceased was treated as a casual labourer, as there was no documentary evidence in respect to his income. Minimum wage notified by the Government of Haryana, w.e.f., 01.07.2015 for unskilled labour was Rs.5,886/- p.m. By virtue of notification dated 21.10.2015, State Government reversed the minimum monthly wage for unskilled labour to Rs.7600/-, w.e.f., 01.11.2015. Fatal accident took place on 30.09.2015. Monthly income of the deceased can safely be assumed to be Rs.7200/-. A deduction of 1/3rd has been made by the Tribunal towards personal expenses from the monthly income as the deceased had three dependents,” the Court remarked.
From the records, the Bench also noted that the deceased was survived by his mother, who had filed the claim petition as a guardian/next friend of the minor child. “Therefore, deduction of 1/4th has to be made from the income of the deceased. Tribunal has correctly applied a multiplier of 18, which does not require any increase. Tribunal has awarded Rs.20,000/- for funeral expenses of the deceased. However, no compensation has been awarded on the account of loss of estate and loss of consortium to the claimants, which deserves to be granted,” it held.
Consequently, the Court held that “claimants are entitled to award under conventional heads, for future prospects, etc. This court is of the view that head-wise various computation of compensation deserves to be modified…Accordingly, appellants are held to an additional compensation of Rs.9,29,000/- (rounded off), which shall be payable to the appellants with interest at the rate of 7.5% p.a., from the date of filing of the claim petition.”
Accordingly, the High Court disposed of the Appeal.
Cause Title: Krishna & Anr. v. Rameshwar & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025:PHHC:031708)
