Court’s Decision
The Bombay High Court partly allowed the First Appeal and enhanced the compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Thane. The Court held that even in the case of death of a minor child, notional income, future prospects, and multiplier method can be applied for calculating loss of dependency.
Facts
The appeal arose from a motor accident claim where the deceased was a six-year-old child. The Tribunal had earlier rejected compensation towards future dependency on the ground that the deceased was only a child and there was no evidence showing what he would have become in future. The mother sought enhancement of compensation mainly under the head of loss of dependency.
Court’s Reasoning
The High Court noted that although there was no specific evidence about the child’s schooling or future earning capacity, the settled law permits courts to consider notional income and apply a multiplier even in cases involving the death of a child.
The Court accepted notional earnings of ₹30,000, applied a multiplier of 15, and calculated the loss of dependency at ₹4,50,000. It further held that since the deceased was only six years old and would have been fully dependent on his parents, no deduction towards personal expenses was required.
Judgments Cited
The Court relied on:
- Meena Devi v. Nunu Chand Mahto @ Nemchand Mahto — for the principle that notional income, future prospects, and multiplier can be considered even in the case of death of a child.
- Sarla Varma v. Delhi Transport Corporation — for application of the multiplier method.
- Kishan Gopal v. Lala — for accepting notional income in child death compensation cases.
Final Outcome
The High Court enhanced the compensation by ₹4,50,000. The total compensation was fixed at ₹4,85,000, inclusive of the earlier awarded amount, with 12% interest per annum from the date of filing of the claim application till realization. The amount is to be deposited before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Thane within six weeks and distributed equally between the parents.