The Gujarat High Court has enhanced compensation awarded in a motor accident claim involving the death of a 17-year-old boy, holding that Motor Accident Claims Tribunals are duty-bound to award “just compensation” by applying the applicable minimum wages, even where the claimants themselves have pleaded a lower income.
Justice Mool Chand Tyagi allowed in part an appeal filed by the claimants challenging the quantum of compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Karjan, which had awarded ₹8.29 lakh for the death of the minor in a 2017 road accident.
The Court noted that although the claimants had stated that the deceased, who worked in agriculture, earned ₹5,000 per month, the Tribunal ought to have assessed his income on the basis of the prevailing minimum wages. Relying on the Supreme Court’s decisions in Rajesh v. Rajbir Singh, (2013) 9 SCC 54 and Hitesh Nagjibhai Patel v. Bababhai Nagjibhai Rabari 2025 (0) AIJEL-SC 75833, the Court held that tribunals are not strictly bound by the pleadings while determining compensation and must award fair and just compensation. Accordingly, it reassessed the deceased’s monthly income at ₹8,388, being the minimum wages for a skilled worker at the relevant time.
After adding future prospects, applying the appropriate multiplier and enhancing the amounts under the conventional heads in line with National Insurance Company v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680 and Magma General Insurance v. Chuhru Ram, (2018) 18 SCC 130, the Court recalculated the total compensation at ₹13,53,052. Since the Tribunal had already awarded ₹8.29 lakh, the High Court granted an additional compensation of ₹5,24,052 with interest at 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition. The insurance company was directed to deposit the enhanced amount within six weeks.
