Motor Vehicles Act

The High Court of Kerala, in Jyothis Raj Krishna v Sunny George & Ors [2024/KER/81459] addressed the issue of determining the notional income for a 5-year-old minor, Jyothis Raj Krishna, who suffered severe injuries in a motor accident, resulting in a vegetative state.

The Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) has power to award higher compensation than what is claimed by the claimant, if the claimant is eligible for more than what was originally claimed, says the SC in Mona Baghel & Others v Sajjan Singh Yadav & Others.

The Kerala High Court in Benny Mon v State of Kerala [2025:KER:22425] says, if a person is arrested for drunken driving under Section 185 of the MV Act, he has to be subjected to medical examination.

The Supreme Court (SC), in Parminder Singh v Honey Goyal & Others, issued directions to ensure direct transfer of motor accident claim compensation to claimants' bank accounts to minimize delays and ensure timely payments.

A legal representative under M V Act A legal representative is one, who suffers on account of death of a person due to a motor vehicle accident and need not…

The notional income of a minor aged 5 years in a motor accident claim should be fixed based on the minimum wages for skilled workers as per the state notification for Kerala, as per GO (P) No 56 /2017 Fin dated 28/4/2017 as the Second Schedule has been omitted, says the Kerala High Court in Master Jyotish Raj Krishna @ Jyothi Krishna v Sunny George & Others [ 2024:KER:87009].

Multiple claim petitions for the same accident are not maintainable, either under the Employee's Compensation Act or the Motor Vehicles Act, the Himachal Pradesh High Court says in Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd. v Shibi Devi [2024:HHC:14477].

The Supreme Court (SC) in United India Insurance Co. Ltd., Shimla v Tilak Singh & Others [2006 (4) SCC 404] and Oriental Insurance Co Ltd v Sudhakaran K V & Others [ 2008 (7) SCC 428] says that a pillion rider on a motorcycle is not a third party. But another bench has reservations about the view and referred the issue to a larger bench.

The future prospects cannot be deprived to both fixed-salary and self-employed individuals in motor vehicle accident compensation as they possess income growth potential due to inflation and career advancement, The Supreme Court (SC) says in Kavita Nagar & Others v The Oriental Insurance Co Ltd.

In an accident the compensation is assessed based on his earning capacity and his age. But when a child dies in an accident, then while deciding the compensation child’s educational qualification, his performance in school will have to be considered. If the child was good in his studies, then he would get more compensation. But there is no standard way of calculating claim in case of death of a child.

If the victim is not the earning member of the family, the compensation cannot be reduced on that pretext. So, in 1994, the legislature had fixed the income of a non-earning person at Rs 15,000/- per month and in case of a spouse, it would be one-third income of the spouse if he is an earning member, as per the Schedule II of the M V Act. The Schedule II has been removed by the 2019 amendment of the M V Act.

In simple personal injury cases, the compensation will be awarded only for expenses relating to treatment etc, loss of earnings and damages for pain and suffering. In grievous injury cases and permanent disability other items such as loss of future earning, future medical expenses, loss of amenities and loss of expectation in life can be added in arriving at just compensation when medical evidence corroborates with claimant’s evidence.