Bhopal News: Supreme Court Awards ₹60 Lakh In Road Accident Death; Sets Aside HC Order

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Supreme Court (SC) granted compensation of Rs 60 lakh in a road accident death case. The division bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and AG Masih granted compensation to dependents of an accident victim who died in a road accident.

In 2018, an appeal was filed by the widow and the dependent 8-year-old daughter of the deceased, who was working with construction company operating JCB machines and bulldozers.

After his death, Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT), Katni, awarded a compensation of Rs 52 lakh, which was set aside and reduced by the High Court to Rs 9 lakh.

High Court, allowing the appeal of the Insurance Company, found that no sufficient proof of income was produced before the MACT Court and thus the income of the deceased husband as a ‘skilled workman’ with an income of Rs 24,000 was not proved beyond reasonable probability to the satisfaction of the Court.

The High Court also found that in the face of job of a JCB machine and bulldozer operator being not so notified as a ‘skilled job’ by the Central Government, the same cannot be treated as the criterion for awarding higher compensation.

Advocate Siddharth R Gupta who appeared on behalf of widow and daughter of deceased, argued before the court that the job profile of a JCB machine and a bulldozer vehicle operator ought to be treated as a job of ‘skilled workman’ and cannot be treated as falling under the category of ‘unskilled employee.’