IMPORTANT POINTS
(1) In cases of permanent disablement caused by a motor accident, claimant is entitled to not just future loss of income, but also future prospects.
(2) Permanent disability suffered in motor accident – While no material compensation can completely negate trauma and suffering that injured and his family faces, law only knows language of monetary compensation in such cases.

JUDGMENT :

KRISHNA MURARI, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The present appeals are directed against the final order dated 12.10.2018 passed by the High Court of Delhi, (hereinafter referred to as “High Court”) in Review Petition No. 391 of 2018 and against the impugned final judgment dated 11.09.2018 passed by the High Court of New Delhi.

3. Briefly, the facts relevant for the purpose of this appeal are as follows:

(I) The Appellant, who is a scrap dealer, was travelling in a bus bearing No. UP-25T-9664 towards his residence in Delhi from his native place at Noor Pur, Gajrola.

(II) The driver of the bus, who is the Respondent No. 1 herein was driving in a rash and negligent manner. At around 12:30 a.m. near the Jindal Pipe Factory in Ghaziabad, the Respondent no. 1 driver hit a standing tempo which was parked on the left side of the road.

(III) As a result of this accident, the Appellant and the other passengers in the bus received grave injuries all over their bodies. The Appellant was aged 37 years at the time of the accident and was earning Rs. 10,000/- per month. As per the Disability Certificate, the Appellant suffered permanent disability of 70% his right lower limb amongst other injuries.

4. The Appellant after the accident filed a claim petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal Delhi-II, Dwarka Court, New Delhi claiming a compensation of Rs. 20,00,000/- (Twenty Lakhs).

5. The Ld. Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as ‘MACT’) after examining the evidence and issues at hand, held that the Respondent No. 1 was the driver of the vehicle and it was his rash and negligent driving that caused the accident. The Ld. MACT awarded a compensation of Rs. 15,76,465/- to the Appellant along with 7.5% interest per annum, the breakup of the same is as follows:

6. The Appellant then filed MAC App. No. 444/2013 before the High Court of Delhi on grounds that the Ld. MACT did not calculate the loss of earning capacity, future prospects and wrong computation of the Appellant’s disability.

7. The High Court of Delhi vide judgment dated 11.09.2018 modified the award passed by the Ld. MACT and disposed of the Appeal by enhancing the compensation to Rs. 16,70,932/- with 9% interest per annum. The relevant part of the judgment reads as follows:

“.......Upon hearing and on perusal of impugned Award and the evidence on record, I find that on the aspect of discrepancy in timing of the accident, there is no cross-examination of Injured and so, Insurer cannot be absolved from paying the compensation awarded. It is not the case of Conductor (R2W1) that the Injured was not travelling in the bus in question. Therefore, the Tribunal has rightly relied upon the evidence of Injured (PW-4) to hold that the negligence was of the bus driver in causing of the accident in question. The Tribunal has assessed the functional disability of Injured to be 30%. The permanent disability is 70% in relation to right lower limb. It is a case of amputation of right leg below the knee and so, the functional disability is assessed at 35%. On the quantum aspect, I find that though there is “loss of future earning” but the “earning capacity” of the Injured has been certainly compromised. Income of the deceased has been assessed by the Tribunal on the basis of ITRS, which were filed after this accident, but there is no basis to conclude that the i