Judgment

Sethi, J.-Leave granted.

2. Notice was issued to the respondent to show cause why the compensation amount in favour of the appellant be not further en­hanced. Respondent No. 3-New India Insurance Company has filed the counter affidavit submitting therein that there is no documentary evidence to show that the appellant was at all employed anywhere at the time of the accident and in the absence of proof regarding his income, the amount of compensation cannot be enhanced. It is submitted that as the appellant had claimed Rs. 2,90,919.15 and was awarded Rs. 2,25,000/- with interest, there is no justification for him to claim enhancement of the compensation amount.

3. The facts giving rise to the filing of the present appeal are that the appellant who was 23 years of age had met with an accident and received severe injuries causing damages to his spinal cord. He re­mained under treatment for about 90 days and became permanently disa­bled. He had preferred a claim for Rs. 63,00,919.15 from the owner, driver and the insurer of the vehicle for injuries suffered by him in the motor accident. The Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Tribunal’) after appreciating the evidence led in the case held that the appellant was travelling as an agent of the construction firm when he met with the accident and awarded him a compensation of Rs. 1,64,037/- with interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum. Both the appellant and the insurance company preferred appeals before the High Court which were disposed by the impugned judgment holding the appellant entitled to Rs. 2,25,000/- as compensation payable with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum instead of 10 per cent as awarded by the Tribunal.

4. It is not disputed that the appellant had met with a road accident in which he was seriously injured, underwent operations of his spinal cord/kidney number of times and has become invalid for all practical purposes for the rest of his life. The appellant had claimed that his income was Rs. 2,000/- per month at the time of accident when he was 23 years of age. He had prayed for applying the multiplier of 55 for granting him compensation in lieu of loss of income which he would have earned in the absence of accident in which he has admittedly been totally incapacitated. The learned counsel appearing for the insurance company submitted that there was no proof of his income and that he was not proved to have been employee of his father in the work where the vehicle was being utilised at the time of the accident. It is however, not disputed that at the time of the accident, the appellant was assisting his father in the construction work of Sunita Construction at Deposit No. 40 in Township of Kailash Nagar for renewing of fencing in front of residential and non-residential quarters providing C.C. coping with glasses for compound walls of Kailash Nagar when he met with the accident. He has claimed his income to be Rs. 2,000/- per month. The appellant, a young man cannot be disputed to be contributing and augmenting the income of his father. Some guess work has to be applied while assessing the loss. This Court in R.D. Hattangadi v. M/s. Pest Control (India) Pvt. Ltd.1 had held:-

“Broadly speaking while fixing an amount of compensation payable to a victim of an accident, the damages have to be assessed separately as pecuniary damages and special damages. Pecuniary damages are those which the victim has actually incurred and which is capable of being calculated in terms of money; whereas non-pecuniary damages are those which are incapable of being assessed by arithmetical calculations. In order to appreciate two concepts pecuniary damages may include ex­penses incurred by the claimant: (i) medical attendance; (ii) loss of earning of profit up to the date of trial; (iii) other material loss. So far non-pecuniary damages are concerned, they may include: (i) damages for mental and physical shock, pain suffering, already suffe