In a significant ruling, the Telangana High Court has increased the compensation granted to grieving parents who lost their 21-year-old son in a road accident. The single-judge bench of Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy observed that the earlier award was insufficient and recalculated the amount based on principles laid down by the Supreme Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi.
Background
The case arose from a tragic accident that occurred on October 16, 2010, near Peddakaparthi village in Nalgonda district. The victim, Challa Venkatesh, was riding his motorcycle from Hyderabad to Suryapet when a Tata Indica car, allegedly driven rashly and at high speed, collided with him. Despite being rushed to hospitals in Narketpally and Hyderabad, he succumbed to his injuries en route.
His parents, Challa Seetha Ramulu and his wife, filed a claim petition under the Motor Vehicles Act seeking ₹10 lakh as compensation. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Nalgonda, awarded ₹8.73 lakh with 6% interest per annum, prompting the parents to appeal for enhancement.
Court's Observations
Justice Bhaskar Reddy began by noting that the findings of the Tribunal regarding the accident’s cause had not been challenged and therefore stood confirmed. The dispute, he said, "centred only on the adequacy of compensation."
While the Tribunal had fixed the monthly income of the deceased at ₹8,000, the Court acknowledged that Venkatesh, being a medical representative aged 21, deserved recognition of his future earning capacity. Citing Pranay Sethi, the bench observed,
"The appellants are entitled to an addition of 40% towards future prospects."
After including this enhancement, the Court recalculated the income at ₹11,200 per month. Applying the legally accepted "multiplier" of 18 and deducting 50% for personal expenses (as the deceased was unmarried), the Court arrived at a total loss of dependency amounting to ₹12,09,600.
The bench further granted ₹84,000 under conventional heads such as funeral expenses, loss of estate, and parental consortium, in line with the Supreme Court’s directives to periodically revise these figures.
Court's Reasoning and Legal Basis
The Insurance Company argued that since the parents had claimed only ₹10 lakh, the compensation could not exceed that amount. The Court disagreed, relying on earlier apex court rulings - Laxman @ Laxman Mourya v. Divisional Manager, Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. and Nagappa v. Gurudayal Singh - which clarified that "just and reasonable compensation" may go beyond the sum claimed, given the Motor Vehicles Act’s welfare nature.
"The law is settled that compensation need not be restricted to the amount claimed if the facts justify a higher figure," the bench remarked, emphasising that the Act’s purpose is to provide social justice to accident victims and their dependents.
Decision
Concluding the matter, the Telangana High Court enhanced the total compensation from ₹8.73 lakh to ₹12.93 lakh, along with 7.5% annual interest from the date of the original petition until full realisation. The Court ordered both the vehicle owner and the insurer to be jointly and severally liable for the payment.
The parents were permitted to withdraw their shares without providing any security but were directed to pay the deficit court fee on the enhanced amount.
With that, the Court allowed the appeal and closed all pending miscellaneous petitions, bringing long-awaited relief to the bereaved family nearly fifteen years after the accident.
Case Title: Challa Seetha Ramulu & Anr. vs. Mahammad Yakub Pasha & Anr.
Case Number: M.A.C.M.A. No. 746 of 2019
Date of Judgment: 28 October 2025
