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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH

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101 FAO-4813-2005

Date of Decision.:05.02.2026

Surinder …..Appellant

Vs.

Suresh and Others .….Respondents

CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEEPAK GUPTA

Present:- Mr. R.S. Longia, Advocate

for the appellant.

None for respondent Nos.2 and 3.

Mr. Lalit Garg, Advocate for

respondent No.4- Insurance Company.

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DEEPAK GUPTA, J. (ORAL)

The present appeal has been preferred by the claimant–

husband seeking enhancement of compensa+on awarded by the learned

Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Panipat, vide award dated 08.08.2005.

2. The claim arises out of a motor vehicular accident dated

24.12.2003, in which Smt. Suman, aged about 19 years, lost her life due to

rash and negligent driving of truck No. HR-45-0607. The appellant, being

the husband of the deceased, ins+tuted a pe++on under Sec+on 166 of the

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, claiming compensa+on from the driver, owner

and insurer of the offending vehicle.

3. The learned Tribunal awarded a total compensa+on of

₹1,75,000/-, holding the respondents jointly and severally liable to pay the

amount along with interest. The Insurance Company was granted recovery

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rights against the owner of the offending vehicle.

4. The appellant has assailed the award on the ground that the

income of the deceased has been grossly undervalued, as the Tribunal

assessed it at ₹1,000/- per month on no+onal basis, despite the deceased

being a young housewife aged 19–20 years.

5. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the

contribu+on of a housewife cannot be equated with that of an unskilled

labourer and that the income ought to have been assessed at a

substan+ally higher figure.

6. Per contra, learned counsel for the Insurance Company submits

that in the year 2003, the minimum wages for an unskilled worker were

around ₹1,800/- to ₹1,900/- per month, and therefore any substan+al

enhancement would be unjus+fied.

7. This Court has considered the rival submissions and perused

the record.

8. The law is now well seled that the services rendered by a

housewife have an undeniable economic value and cannot be ignored

merely because she was not earning wages. In Lata Wadhwa and ors. v.

State of Bihar and ors., (2001) 8 SCC 197, the Hon’ble Supreme Court

recognized that the contribu+on of a housewife to the family is substan+al

and measurable in monetary terms. The principle was further elaborated in

Arun Kumar Agrawal and ors. v. Na%onal Insurance Co. Ltd. and ors.,

(2010) 9 SCC 218, wherein it was held that the gratuitous services rendered

by a housewife are invaluable and deserve due considera+on while

compu+ng compensa+on.

9. More recently, in Kir% & ors. v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.,

(2021) 2 SCC 166, the Supreme Court reiterated that trea+ng the work of a

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homemaker as having no economic value would be a “serious injus+ce” and

emphasized that courts must adopt a realis+c and gender-sensi+ve

approach while assessing no+onal income.

10. At the same +me, assessment of no+onal income must remain

contextual to the period of accident. In the present case, the accident

occurred in December 2003. There is no evidence on record regarding the

educa+onal qualifica+ons or specialized skills of the deceased. Therefore,

while the Tribunal’s assessment of ₹1,000/- per month is manifestly on the

lower side, the claim of ₹9,000/- per month, as contended by counsel for

the appellant, is equally excessive for the relevant period.

11. Keeping in view the age of the deceased (19–20 years); the

seled recogni+on of the economic value of a housewife’s services;

prevailing wage structure in 2003, and the guidance flowing from Lata

Wadhwa, Arun Kumar Agrawal, and Kir% (supra), this Court considers it

just and reasonable to assess the no+onal income at ₹3,000/- per month,

i.e. ₹36,000/- per annum.

12. The learned Tribunal has further failed to award just

compensa+on under the conven+onal he