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Synopsis

The Supreme Court recently set aside a Kerala High Court's order reducing compensation awarded to a man, who became permanently bed ridden and paralysed in a road accident in 2005.

A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal made corrections in the High Court's order with regard to income of the injured victim, who died in 2022, and future prospects and restored the award made by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

"As the Tribunal had awarded total compensation of Rs 51,58,458, in our opinion, the ends of justice will be met in case the order of the High Court is set aside and the amount as awarded by the Tribunal is restored as there is not much difference in the final compensation as assessed by this court," the bench said.

An appeal had been filed by Varghese George alias Jomon against the order of January 31, 2018 passed by the High Court of Kerala seeking enhancement of compensation in a motor accident claim case.

The Tribunal had awarded the appellant a compensation of Rs 51,58,458 under various heads along with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till realisation. However, the High Court reduced the compensation to Rs 45,18,208 by mainly reducing the income of the injured.

The facts of the matter in brief were that on October 09, 2005, at about 8 PM, the appellant was returning from Velankanni Church along with other passengers in a Toyota Qualis Van, on Kottayam-Kumali National Highway, when the vehicle suddenly fell into a gorge called "Mathai Kokka" situated 500 meters east of Peerumade. The appellant and other passengers were severely injured. The injured passengers were shifted to Pushpagiri Medical College Hospital, Thiruvalla where the appellant remained under treatment for 42 days.

The appellant, subsequently deceased and represented through his legal representatives, was 24 years old when the accident took place. He was working as a Sales Officer at a Hyundai dealership.

On account of the accident, the appellant suffered injuries over the spine and head causing complete quadriplegia. He remained permanently bedridden and paralysed for the rest of his life.

The appellant filed a claim petition before the Tribunal. On the basis of the disability certificate, the Tribunal assessed the functional disability of the deceased-appellant as 100% and his monthly income was taken as Rs 12,000. While granting compensation under various other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total amount of Rs 51,58,458.

The award of the Tribunal was challenged before the High Court, which reduced the amount of compensation from Rs 51,58,458 to Rs 45,18,208 primarily reducing the income of the appellant (now deceased). However, the error in applying the multiplier of 17 was corrected by the High Court by granting multiplier of 18 and attendant charges were granted.

At the time of filing of the petition, the injured was alive, however during the pendency of the matter before the top court, he died on August 20, 2022.

The bench noted that the delay in filing the special leave petition was condoned and notice was issued limited to enhancement of the amount quantified for bystander expenses.

"However, while examining the matter in detail, it is noticed that the future prospects as awarded by the High Court at 50% was not in consonance with the judgment of this Court in National Insurance Company Limited Vs Pranay Sethi and Others (2017)," the bench noted.

The court pointed out that the injured (now deceased) being in private employment on fixed salary was entitled to future prospects of 40%.

The income of the deceased was also taken on the lower side, which the top court felt, instead of Rs 5,500 per month deserved to be enhanced to Rs 7,000 per month, considering the evidence produced on record, it said.

"From a perusal of the order passed by the High Court, it is not very clear as to how final compensation of Rs 45,18,208 was arrived at. If all the heads under which the compensation has been awarded are calculated, the amount comes out to Rs 48,18,208 and not Rs 45,18,208," the bench said.

"In our opinion, if correction is made on the assessment of the income of the injured (now deceased) and the future prospects, and the compensation as awarded by the High Court under other heads is upheld, the total amount of compensation would come to Rs 51,59,250," the bench added.

The court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's order.

Case Title: Varghese George @ Jomon (Died) Thr Its LRs Vs United India Insurance Co Ltd