The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that parents can claim compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act for the loss of an unborn child in a road accident when the pregnancy has advanced beyond six months. The Court awarded ₹2,27,072 in compensation to a couple whose 28-week-old unborn child died after a road accident in 1997.
Background
The appeal was filed by Suresh Kumar Sethi and another before the High Court, challenging a 2000 award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Panchkula, which had dismissed their compensation claim concerning the death of their unborn child.
According to the case, on June 8, 1997, the couple was returning home from PGI on a motorcycle. Due to a road blockage near Bitta Petrol Pump on the Chandigarh-Panchkula road, the motorcycle was moved onto the roadside.
The mother, who was 28 weeks pregnant, got down and started walking ahead to check the passage. At that time, a scooter approaching from behind struck her, dragging her several feet. She suffered multiple injuries, including fractures, and the unborn child died as a result of the accident.
Although the Tribunal had found that the accident occurred due to the scooter driver's rash and negligent driving, it rejected the compensation claim for the unborn child's death, relying on an earlier Himachal Pradesh High Court judgment.
Justice Parmod Goyal examined whether the loss of an unborn child could be compensated under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
The Court referred to the Full Bench decision of the Kerala High Court in Abhulasees, P.P. and Others v. Abdumanaf and Others (2017), which recognised that a foetus can be treated as a viable child for compensation purposes when pregnancy has advanced beyond six months.
Applying this principle, the Court observed:
"In the present case, the foetus was 28 weeks old and has to be treated as a child."
The Court further held that the Tribunal had erred in refusing compensation merely because the deceased was an unborn child.
For calculating compensation, the Court adopted the minimum monthly wages of an unskilled worker in 1997, amounting to ₹1,548. It added 40% towards future prospects, deducted 50% towards personal expenses and applied a multiplier of nine.
The High Court recalculated the compensation under different heads. The calculation included ₹1,17,072 towards loss of dependency, ₹15,000 towards loss of estate, ₹15,000 towards funeral expenses and ₹80,000 towards filial consortium for both parents at ₹40,000 each.
The Court accordingly held:
"Accordingly, the reworked compensation payable to appellants-claimants is as under:"
The total compensation was fixed at ₹2,27,072.
The Court directed that the compensation would carry interest at 7.5% from the date of filing of the claim petition until realisation, except for conventional heads, including loss of consortium, funeral expenses and loss of estate, on which interest would be payable from August 2017.
Justice Parmod Goyal accordingly allowed the appeal and disposed of the pending applications, if any.
Case Details:
Case Title: Suresh Kumar Sethi and Anr. v. Sanjeev Kumar and Ors.
Case Number: FAO-3426-2001 (O&M)
Judge: Justice Parmod Goyal
Decision Date: 02 November 2026
