Multiplier to be Applied w.r.t Motor Accident Compensation for Age Group 15-25 is 18: Reiterates SC
August 1, 2020, Saturday
Anjana Gopinath
The Supreme Court on Wednesday reiterated that the multiplier to be adopted while computing Motor Accident Compensation for the age group 15 to 25 years has to be ‘18’. The Bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ajay Rastogi, and Aniruddha Bose held the same while considering an appeal against a High Court judgement.Mohit Goel, the son of the Appellant was 23 years old when he met with an accident and died. A claim petition was brought before the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal by the Appellant, and the MACT determined the total compensation to be Rs. 25,48,050. However, on the grounds of contributory negligence to the extent of 50%, the insurer was directed to pay only half of the amount to the Appellant (Claimant). The order of the MACT was upheld when the matter was brought before the High Court.
The Bench on finding and upholding the contributory negligence noted that “we have examined the impugned judgment and all other perspectives also and do not find any infirmity except two aspects:
(a) the multiplier applied was 13 while as per the judgment in Sarla Verma & Ors. v. Delhi Transport Corporation & Anr. (2009) 6 SCC 121, it should have been 18.
(b) The interest granted is of 6% which generally the interest being granted is of 9% including in a recent judgment in the case of Erudhaya Priya v. State Express Transport Corporation Ltd. (Civil Appeal Nos. 2811-2812/2020) decided on 27th July 2020.”
The Court, in the case of Sarla Verma & Ors. V. Delhi Transport Corporation & Anr. (2009) 6 SCC 121, had held that the multiplier to be used in regard to the age group of 15 to 25 is 18. Additionally, with respect to the recent case which was decided on the 27th of July 2020, i.e., Erudhaya Priya v. State Express Transport Corporation Ltd. (Civil Appeal Nos. 2811-2812/2020), the Court had made a similar observation. In the said case, it was stated that “in the age group of 15-25 years, the multiplier has to be ‘18’along with the factoring in the extent of disability.”
The matter titled as Ved Prakash Goel @ Ved Goel & Anr. v. S.D. Singh & Anr (Civil Appeal No. 2831 of 2020) was decided on the 29th of July, 2020.
