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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
SANJAY KAROL, NONGMEIKAPAM KOTISWAR SINGH, JJ.
Shishu Pal @ Shish Ram & Ors. – Appellants
Versus
Surjeet & Ors. – Respondents
Civil Appeal No. 8456 of 2026 (@Special Leave Petition(Civil) No. 33915 of 2025)
Decided On : 11-06-2026
Key Points: - The judgment discusses adding a new compensation head "loss of domestic care," with a fixed baseline of 30,000 per year, and notional income using that as monthly income in cases where no monetary input is shown for the homemaker. (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) - It directs a composite award structure including loss of domestic care, loss of consortium, loss of estate, and funeral expenses, with specific calculations and a total in the present facts. (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) - It mandates an escalation mechanism: 10% enhancement every three years for the heads of loss of consortium, loss of estate, and funeral expenses. (!) (!) - It identifies significant administrative pendency as a systemic issue, noting delays in High Courts and Tribunals, and prescribes directions to attach requisite documents and adopt summary procedures where appropriate to expedite payments. (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) - It emphasizes recognizing homemaker contributions as nation-building and endorses altering terminology and valuation to reflect non-economic and economic contributions. (!) (!) (!)
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. introduction to the issues of delay and homemaker compensation. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. factual history of the underlying claim and judicial progression. (Para 3) |
| 3. addressing systemic delays in judicial disposal of motor accident claims. (Para 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9) |
| 4. conceptualizing the homemaker as an economic entity and nation builder. (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14) |
| 5. establishing the 'loss of domestic care' head for compensation awards. (Para 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21) |
| 6. application of new compensation guidelines to the specific appeal facts. (Para 22) |
| 7. issuance of mandatory directions to procedural improvements and case management. (Para 23 , 24) |
JUDGMENT
SANJAY KAROL J.,
For felicity of reference, this judgment is divided into the following parts:
| Index |
| THE APPEAL |
| THE ASPECT OF DELAY |
| In the Present facts |
| In General – the inordinate delay |
| THE HOME-MAKER: A NATION BUILDER & AN ECONOMIC ENTITY |
| Judicial Pronouncements |
| Quantifying The Contribution-of a Nation Builder |
| Loss Of Domestic Care: An Additional Head |
| Application to the present facts |
| DIRECTIONS |
Leave granted.
THE APPEAL
2. This appeal primarily presents two vexing issues. The claimant’s struggle for compensation is two-and-a-half decades old. In other words, delay is front and centre in this case. The other issue presented is the monetisation of a homemaker’s efforts since the deceased (wife of the claimant) was a homemaker. We may only ask ourselves when in Indian society, the ‘woman of the house’ is called the ‘grihaswamini’, then why n are we still groping in the dark about the questions such as the one present in this case.
3. The fact of the accident having taken place on 25th November 2001 while the deceased was on her way to Fatehabad, from Sirsa due to the rash and negligent driving of respondent no.1, is not in dispute. The Tribunal1 [Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Sirsa] allowed Claim Petition No.126/MACT of 2001, preferred by her legal heirs by order dated 18th December 2003 and awarded Rs.2,42,000/- only. The claimants approached the High Court2 [FAO No.1627 of 2004] seeking enhancement thereof. A learned Single Judge allowing FAO-1627-2004 vide order dated 11th December 2024 enhanced the said compensation to Rs. 8,43,400/- along with 7.5% interest from the date of filing of the claim petition. It was further clarified that should the said payment be not made within three months, the rate of interest would stand enhanced to 9% per annum and further if the amount is not paid within six months, enhancement shall be with interest @ 12% per annum.
4. Still dissatisfied, the claimants are before us. At the outset we may observe that the increasing scales of rate of interest awarded by the High Court seems to be a recognition of the peculiar facts and circumstances in which this case remained on the file of the High Court for twenty years. While issuing notice it is this number that caught our attention and as such, we called for the records of the Courts below.
THE ASPECT OF DELAY
In the Present facts
5. It appears from the perusal of records of the High Court that the file of this case amongst thousands of others was either partially burnt or completely destroyed in a fire that occurred in 2011. There was also an earlier incident in the year 1996 but since that is from a time prior to the present case, we need not consider that. The issue of reconstruction of files repeatedly engaged the attention of the learned judges of that Court on the administrative side. Various directions were issued from time to time. The latest direction dated 21st February 2024 records that despite various efforts having been made, approximately 2200 cases, of which no record whatsoever could be traced out , were ordered to be removed from the list of pending reconstruction cases and directed to be placed in a separate file awaiting the possibility of any intervention on the part of the counsel for the
The determination of compensation for a homemaker and the methods for fixing notional income, highlighting the importance of recognizing the work and sacrifices of homemakers.
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