Courts must assess compensation for accident victims based on realistic evaluation of their potential earnings and educational background, rather than just minimum wage standards.

JUDGMENT :

ARUN MONGA, J.

1. Having suffered the devastating and irreparable loss of their only 20-year-old son, a promising medical student, whose future as a doctor was cruelly cut short in a tragic road accident-the grieving parents are before this Court. With their dreams shattered and their lives forever altered, they seek enhancement of compensation by modification of the impugned judgment/award dated 13.04.2023 passed in Claim Case No. 282/2019 by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bikaner.

2. Brief facts first. The appellants are the legal representatives of the deceased, Sunil Bishnoi, who had filed Claim Petition No. 282/2019 before the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bikaner, seeking compensation for the injuries caused by a road accident. Subsequent to his death because of the injuries suffered in the accident, the petitioners pursued the claim for compensation before the learned Tribunal.

2.1 As per the averments in the claim petition, on 06.02.2019 at around 9:00 AM, Sunil Bishnoi was traveling in Car No. RJ-46-CA-1766 from Jodhpur to Udaipur, along with his friends Rohit, Sunil, and Sonu. When the vehicle reached near Bhairunath Dhaba, it’s driver (son of respondent No. 1, also named Sunil, since deceased), due to rash and negligent driving, hit a motorcycle. As a result, the car driver lost it’s control and collided with a road divider, leading to injuries from iron angles installed along the divider.

2.2 Sunil Bishnoi sustained grievous injuries in the accident and, despite medical efforts, succumbed to his injuries.

2.3 All parties to the claim petition actively participated in the proceedings. After considering the evidence and hearing the parties, the learned Tribunal awarded total compensation of Rs. 12,52,429/- to the appellants. Finding the compensation amount awarded as inadequate, the appellants filed the present appeal.

3. In the aforesaid backdrop, I have heard the rival contentions and perused the case file along with the documents annexed therewith.

4. Learned counsel for the appellants, at the outset, submits that the learned Tribunal, while passing the impugned award dated 13.04.2023, failed to consider the material evidence on record, thereby rendering the awarded compensation grossly unjust and inadequate. The award suffers from a hyper-technical and narrow approach, warranting its modification.

4.1 He contends that the Tribunal erred in assessing the income of the deceased by merely applying the standard of minimum wage of skilled worker without any realistic and reasonable estimation or guesswork. This approach ignored the deceased's academic background and future earning potential. It is submitted that the deceased, Sunil Bishnoi, was a second-year MBBS student at Sampoornanand Medical College, Jodhpur, having secured admission through the highly competitive NEET examination. His academic excellence and career prospects clearly demonstrated a potential for significantly higher earnings than that of an unskilled labourer, a factor the Tribunal failed to acknowledge.

4.2 Moreover, the Tribunal overlooked the socio-economic status of the claimants and did not award reasonable amounts under the heads of funeral expenses and loss of estate. Further, the Tribunal applied an incorrect multiplier and made improper deductions, thereby underestimating the compensation.

4.3 In light of the above, he argues that the impugned award is a