Court holds that negligence of a motorcycle driver cannot be imputed to an innocent pillion rider; awards an additional Rs. 9.23 lakh with 9% interest.
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has partly allowed an appeal filed by the legal heirs of a deceased pillion rider and enhanced the motor accident compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Nadiad.
Justice J.C. Doshi ruled that the Tribunal had erred in attributing contributory negligence to the deceased, who was merely travelling as a passenger on the motorcycle. The Court held that the negligence of a vehicle’s driver cannot be fastened on an innocent pillion rider. Referring to Supreme Court precedents, the Court clarified the distinction between contributory negligence and composite negligence, observing that in cases of composite negligence, a claimant may recover the entire compensation from any of the joint tortfeasors.
The appeal arose from a road accident that occurred on 24 December 2020, when deceased Jayeshbhai was travelling as a pillion rider on a motorcycle. According to the claimants, the motorcycle collided with an unknown vehicle near Poonampura Patiya, resulting in serious injuries to Jayeshbhai. He was treated at hospitals and later succumbed to his injuries. His family sought Rs. 30 lakh as compensation.
The Tribunal had awarded compensation, but the claimants challenged the amount as being too low and also objected to the deduction made on the ground of alleged negligence of the deceased. The High Court accepted this contention, stating that the Tribunal had failed to properly appreciate the legal position laid down in Khenyei v. New India Assurance Co. Ltd. and Sushma v. Nitin Ganapati Rangole.
The Court also held that compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act is meant to be “just, fair and equitable,” and that the Tribunal must adopt a liberal and realistic approach while assessing compensation. On re-evaluation, the Court found that the monthly income of the deceased had not been properly considered and that the amounts under conventional heads also required correction in light of Supreme Court decisions in Pranay Sethi and Satinder Kaur.
Recalculating the compensation, the Court fixed future dependency loss at Rs. 21,17,826 and awarded Rs. 3,64,470 under the heads of loss of estate, consortium, and funeral expenses. After adjusting the amount already awarded by the Tribunal, the High Court granted an additional compensation of Rs. 9,23,360.
The enhanced amount will carry interest at 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition until realization. The insurance company has been directed to deposit the enhanced sum within six weeks, and the Tribunal has been instructed to disburse the amount to the claimants after verification and in accordance with law.
Bottom Line :
Motor accident compensation - Pillion rider/passenger cannot be fastened with contributory negligence of driver - In case of composite negligence, claimant can recover entire compensation from impleaded tortfeasor - Compensation enhanced by properly recalculating future dependency and awarding conventional amounts towards consortium, loss of estate and funeral expenses.
Statutory provision(s): Section 173, Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
Sonalben Jayeshkumar Parmar v. Maheshkumar Kulabhai Parmar, (Gujarat) : Law Finder Doc id # 2984991
