Section 166 – Compensation in motor vehicle accident case – Permanent disability -- Functional disability – Failure to re-examine medically – Adverse inference -- High Court directed re-examination to know physical condition as on date -- Medical condition on the date of accident remains undisputed and was assessed to have suffered 9% disability qua whole body -- There is no challenge to this finding by the respondents -- If the claimant failed to get himself re-examined, no adverse inference can be drawn against him.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 04.11.2022

Section 166 – Compensation in motor vehicle accident case -- Permanent disability -- Functional disability – Loss of future earning -- Assessment of compensation under the head ‘loss of future earning’, would depend upon the effect and impact of such permanent disability on earning capacity – Assessment is not to be done mechanically only on the percentage of physical disability – Age, profession, nature of work, and the related factors, as well as the permanent disability suffered need to be taken into account for that purpose.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 04.11.2022

Section 166 – Compensation in motor vehicle accident case – Injury case -- Permanent disability -- Functional disability – Loss of future earning -- Accident on 7.5.1994 -- Income taken as Rs. 5,000 per month -- Disability of 15% qua the affected limb has been found to be 9% qua the whole body -- At the time of accident, he was 42 years of age, and in active practice as an advocate before High Court -- Disability suffered, leading to shortening of leg by ½ inch, and the resultant difficulty in running, squatting and free movements to the claimant, would naturally have affected his professional life as well as the earning capacity – Loss of earning capacity treated as 10% of the assessed income -- Multiplier of 14 applied – Appellant-claimant held entitled to Rs. 84,000 as compensation for loss of future earnings with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing the claim petition till its actual realization.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 04.11.2022

Section 166 -- Compensation in motor vehicle accident case -- Fake driving license -- Renewal of fake driving licencee – Liability of Insured-owner -- Merely because the driving license of the driver is fake, would not be a sufficient ground by itself to absolve the insurance company of its liability to indemnify the insured -- Driving license periodically renewed -- It can be safely inferred that owner while employing driver, had not only satisfied himself about his driving skills but also qua the validity of his driving license -- Owner could not be expected to carry out a roving enquiry into the authenticity of the driving license, more so, when driving license in question had been regularly renewed -- Insurance company is held liable to indemnify the insured and pay the amount of compensation to the claimants.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 28.10.2022

Section 166 – Compensation in motor vehicle accident -- Deceased 28 years of age – Notional Income -- Future prospects – Consortium – Funeral expenses and loss of estate – Claimants are wife, minor daughter, father and sister of the deceased -- Notional income considered as 6,500/- per month, 40% added towards future prospects -- 1/3rd deducted towards personal expense – Multiplier of 17 applied – Claimant also held entitled to Rs. 40,000/- towards parental consortium for minor child; Rs. 40,000/- towards wife and Rs. 40,000/- towards filial consortium for the father totaling Rs. 1,20,000/- -- Claimants shall also be entitled to Rs. 30,000/- under the conventional head (funeral expense and loss of estate) -- Appellants held entitled to a total sum of Rs. 13,78,790/- with interest @ 7.5% p.a. from the date of filing of the claim petition till realization towards the compensation for the death of the deceased.

(SC) Decided on: 17.10.2022

Section 166 -- Compensation in motor vehicle accident case – Deceased mason aged 48/52 years – Future prospects -- High Court awarded compensation towards loss of dependency at Rs. 2,97,000/- considering the income of the deceased at Rs. 3,000/- p.m. after deducting 1/3rd towards the personal expenditure of the deceased – Total Rs.3,92,000/- under different heads along with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition awarded – Held, while awarding loss of dependency, future prospects and rise in income ought to have been considered -- 25% of Rs. 3,000/- per month considered towards future prospects -- It can be said to be just compensation -- Claimants held entitled to a total sum of Rs. 4,25,000/- under different heads along with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing the claim petition till its realization.

(SC) Decided on : 19.09.2022

Section 166 – Compensation in motor vehicle accident case -- Deceased driving Activa on wrong side – Pleadings – Requirement of -- Driver of the offending vehicle stepped into the witness box as RW1 and stated that the deceased was driving the Scooter on the wrong side -- However, except statement of the driver no other details as to where the deceased had tried to cross the slip road in a rash and negligent manner are forthcoming from the statement or from the pleadings -- Pleadings are totally bereft of any details which could even remotely show that the deceased was driving the Activa Scooter on the wrong side of the road – A conjoint reading of the statement of the eye-witness as well as of the driver leaves no manner of doubt that the accident had taken place because of the rash and negligent driving of respondent No.6 -- Argument raised by the appellant-Insurance Company, hence rejected.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 12.05.2022

Section 166 -- Compensation in motor vehicle accident case -- Assessment of Income of deceased -- Income Tax Return – Non-examination of official of IT Department – Effect of -- Proceedings before the Tribunal are summary in nature and do not admit strict principles of law of evidence to be applied – Considering the scheme of the Act, which is a beneficial piece of legislation, the income-tax returns produced by the claimants ought not to be rejected merely because they have not been proved by some official from the Income Tax Department unless some serious doubts are raised qua the authenticity of the same – High Court finds no reason not to accept the income calculation of the deceased as adopted by the Tribunal.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 12.05.2022

Section 166 -- Compensation in motor vehicle accident case -- Nature of evidence -- MACT cases stand on a different footing and cannot be kept at par with the criminal cases -- In MACT cases, the claimants are required to prove their case on the touchstone of preponderance of probabilities while in criminal cases, the case of the prosecution is to be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 29.04.2022

Section 166 – Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872), Section 137 -- Compensation in motor vehicle accident case -- DDR of accident – Deposition of author of DDR before Tribunal -- Evidential value -- Any statement made by a person, including the DDR, recorded before the police is not on oath and as such, it cannot be kept at the same pedestal as the deposition made by a witness before a Court of law -- On the one hand, it is the case of the appellant-Insurance Company that PW-2 was a planted witness and was not present when the occurrence in question took place, however, in the same breath, learned counsel while placing reliance upon the DDR recorded by PW-2, is trying to demolish the case of the claimants by urging that he had stated therein that the accident in question had happened suddenly and thus no one was at fault -- PW-2, while stepping into the witness-box gave a vivid account of the accident in question -- He was subjected to lengthy cross-examination, however, he stood his ground and the respondents were unable to create any dent in his testimony – Appeal of Insurance company against award passed by Tribunal dismissed.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 29.04.2022

Section 14 – Driving license – Expiry of – Accident within 30 days – Effect of -- Driving license was valid upto 20.8.2011 and was renewed on 19th September, 2011 – Accident took place on 5.9.2011 – Proviso to Section 14 read as “Provided that every driving licence shall, notwithstanding its expiry under this sub-section continue to be effective for a period of thirty days from such expiry.” -- In view of the above provision, the driving licence of driver was held to be valid on the date of accident.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 28.11.2015

Section 166 -- Compensation in Motor Vehicle accident case -- Deceased was running business -- Argument that the business has continued and the claimants still have income from the business, cannot be accepted to reduce the amount of dependency of claimants.

(P&H HC) Decided on: 28.11.2015