The Calcutta High Court has enhanced compensation in a motor accident case involving the tragic death of two young brothers in 2015. Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury partly modified the compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, holding that the parents were entitled to additional damages considering the future prospects of the deceased students.
The court disposed of two connected appeals filed by the parents seeking enhancement of the compensation granted earlier by the tribunal.
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Background of the Case
The appeals arose from a road accident that occurred on December 30, 2015, in which two brothers-Sourav Sen Majumder and Souvik Sen Majumder-lost their lives. Their parents, Sanchita Sen Majumdar and Ashok Sen Majumdar, approached the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal seeking compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The claim petitions were registered as MAC Case No. 182 of 2016 and MAC Case No. 185 of 2016 before the tribunal in Hooghly district. The claimants alleged that the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of a gas tanker insured with Oriental Insurance Company Limited.
In August 2022 and December 2022, the tribunal partly allowed the claims and awarded compensation of ₹8,26,000 and ₹9,77,200 respectively, along with interest at 8% per annum. Dissatisfied with the amount, the parents filed appeals before the High Court seeking enhancement.
Counsel for the appellants argued that the tribunal had underestimated the future potential of the deceased sons. One of the victims was pursuing an engineering course, while the other was a Class X student preparing for the CBSE board examination.
The parents contended that the tribunal wrongly assessed their sons’ income at a very low level and failed to adequately consider their likely future earnings.
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The insurance company, however, argued that the tribunal had already granted a fair and reasonable compensation based on the evidence available.
After examining the evidence and judicial precedents cited by both sides, Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury noted that each case must be assessed based on its specific facts.
Regarding the engineering student’s case, the court observed that the tribunal had carefully evaluated the educational background and evidence while fixing the income at ₹6,000 per month. The High Court therefore found no reason to interfere with that assessment.
However, the court noticed that the tribunal had granted consortium only to one parent. The High Court held that compensation under this head should be appropriately adjusted.
“The Tribunal considered the income and future prospects of the victim. However, certain conventional heads of compensation require modification,” the court noted.
In the second case involving the school student, the court observed that a child preparing for a board examination cannot be treated as having no earning potential.
“The notional income should not be confined to what the student earned during his student life but must also take into account future prospects,” the court said.
The court therefore reassessed the notional income at ₹8,000 per month, considering the likelihood of future employment or profession.
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Using the revised notional income, the High Court recalculated the compensation. After deducting personal expenses, adding future prospects, and applying the appropriate multiplier, the court determined the total compensation to be ₹13,00,000 for the second claim.
Since the claimants had already received ₹8,26,000, the court directed payment of the remaining ₹4,74,000 along with interest at 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition.
In the first appeal, the court awarded an additional ₹50,000 under conventional heads such as consortium, loss of estate, and funeral expenses.
The High Court disposed of both appeals with directions to the insurer to pay the enhanced amounts.
The court directed Oriental Insurance Company Limited to deposit the additional compensation with the Registrar General of the High Court within eight weeks. The claimants will be allowed to withdraw the amount after completing the required formalities.
Case Title: Sanchita Sen Majumdar & Anr. vs Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. & Ors.
Case No.: FMAT (MV) 38 of 2023 with FMA 188 of 2024
Decision Date: 12 March 2026
