SC upholds over Rs 1 crore award to daughters of couple which died in road mishap

New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside a verdict and upheld over Rs 1 crore compensation awarded to the daughters of a couple which died in a road accident.

A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah took note of the appeal of the daughters against the high court’s order.

The case stemmed from a mishap in which the parents of S Vishnu Ganga, S Sudha Maheswari, A Aishwarya Ganga and S Sudha Rani, died.

The couple was travelling from Salem to Madurai when a bus collided with their vehicle near Namakkal, leading to their untimely demise. It came on record that the offending bus was uninsured.

The daughters moved the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) seeking compensation of Rs 1 crore each for the loss of their father and mother.

On November 25, 2014, the tribunal, after considering the evidence, awarded compensation of Rs 58,24,000 for the father and Rs 93,61,000 for the mother, with an interest rate of 7.5 per cent per annum.

However, M/s Oriental Insurance Company Limited challenged the award before the Karnataka High Court, which in 2017 partially allowed the appeal, reducing the compensation to Rs 26.68 lakh for the father and Rs 19.22 lakh for the mother.

Authoring the judgement, Justice Amanullah held Karnataka High Court had unjustifiably reduced the compensation.

The bench said the tribunal’s award was well-considered and adhered to established legal precedents.

“The high court’s reasoning militates against settled law. Adopting a holistic view, we find that the impugned judgment...deserves to be interfered with. It is, accordingly, set aside. The award passed by the tribunal stands restored," held the court.

The court directed the amount to be paid within six weeks.

The judgment said just because the daughters continued to run their parents’ business — Sri Ganga Mills — it did not negate the financial loss suffered due to their parents' demise.

The court reaffirmed that while considering loss of future income, factors such as the lack of experience and maturity of the appellants in running the business should be taken into account.

The bench said the tribunal’s assessment of the parents’ monthly income at Rs 60,000 each was reasonable and aligned with income tax returns submitted as evidence.

It directed the public sector insurance firm to release the outstanding compensation amount after deducting any payments already made. PTI SJK AMK

Source: PTI