KUMARI SREE DEVI Vs. MANAGING DIRECTOR KSRTC

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HOW is compensation payable for loss suffered by the parents in the case of death of a non-earning minor child to be assessed? Can the Tribunals insist that such compensation payable under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act cannot fall below the amount that would be payable under Section 163A of the MV Act? These questions arise for consideration in this appeal.

(2.) THE claimants are the appellants. THEy are the parents and brother of the deceased a child aged 15 years who suffered injuries in a motor accident which took place on 3/11/ 1999 and succumbed to the same. THE claimants lodged a claim for compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Against a claim for Rs. 5,00,000/-, the Tribunal awarded a total amount of Rs. 1,86,000/- as compensation as per the details shown below:

(3.) THE learned counsel for the appellants in this context draws our attention to the decision of the Supreme Court in M. S. Grewal v. Deep Chand Sood1 and Lal Wadhwa v. State of Bihar2. THEse were not cases in which the claim for compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act came up for consideration. THE learned counsel for the appellants, however, points out that in these cases the Supreme Court had awarded much larger amount - about Rs. 5,00,000/ - in both cases as compensation for loss suffered by the parents in the case of death of minor children of aged 15 years.