N. JAYASREE & ORS. versus CHOLAMANDALAM MS GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD.

Citation: [2021] 6 S.C.R. 1001 · Decided: 25-10-2021 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S. ABDUL NAZEER · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 9 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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N. JAYASREE & ORS.
v.
CHOLAMANDALAM MS GENERAL INSURANCE
COMPANY LTD.
(Civil Appeal No. 6451 of 2021)
OCTOBER 25, 2021
[S. ABDUL NAZEER AND KRISHNA MURARI, JJ.]
Motor Vehicles Act,1988: Legal representative – Meaning of
– Mother in law of deceased – Claim petition, maintainability – The
term ‘legal representative’ should be given a wider interpretation
for the purpose of Chapter XII of MV Act and it should not be
confined only to mean the spouse, parents and children of the
deceased – MV Act is a benevolent legislation enacted for the object
of providing monetary relief to the victims or their families –
Therefore, the MV Act calls for a liberal and wider interpretation to
serve the real purpose underlying the enactment and fulfil its
legislative intent – In order to maintain a claim petition, it is sufficient
for the claimant to establish loss of dependency – s.166 of the MV
Act makes it clear that every legal representative who suffers on
account of death of a person in a motor accident should have a
remedy for realization of compensation – Materials on record clearly
establish that mother-in-law of victim-deceased was residing with
him – She was dependent on him for her shelter and maintenance –
It is not uncommon in Indian Society for the mother-in-law to live
with her daughter and son-in-law during her old age and be
dependent upon her son-in-law for her maintenance – She may not
be a legal heir of the deceased, but she certainly suffered on account
of his death – Therefore, she is a “legal representative” under s.166
of the MV Act and is entitled to maintain a claim petition.
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988: Split multiplier – Applicability of –
At the time of calculation of the income, the Court has to consider
the actual income of the deceased and addition should be made to
take into account future prospects – While the evidence in a given
case may indicate a different percentage of increase, standardization
of the addition for future prospects should be made to avoid different
yardsticks being applied or different methods of calculation being
[2021] 6 S.C.R. 1001
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2021] 6 S.C.R.
adopted – In Pranay Sethi, the Constitution Bench has directed
addition of 15% of the salary in case the deceased was between the
age of 50 to 60 years as a thumb rule, where a deceased had a
permanent job – In view of that, High Court was not justified in
applying split multiplier in the instant case.
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988: s.166 – Deceased aged 52 years
at the time of his death and having a permanent job – Applicable
multiplier is ‘11’ – 15% of his actual salary should be added towards
future prospectus – Four dependents left behind by the deceased –
Hence, 1/4th of the income (actual salary + future prospects) should
be deducted towards his personal expenses – In Pranay Sethi, this
Court has awarded a total sum of Rs.70,000/- under conventional
heads, namely, loss of estate, loss of consortium and funeral expenses
and the said sum should be enhanced at the rate of 10% in every
three years – The judgment in Pranay Sethi was rendered in the year
2017 – Therefore, in the instant case, the claimants are entitled for
10% enhancement.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1. Whether the High Court was justified in
precluding the mother-in-law of the deceased (appellant no.4) as
his legal representative?
1.1 The MV Act does not define the term ‘legal
representative’. Generally, ‘legal representative’ means a person
who in law represents the estate of the deceased person and
includes any person or persons in whom legal right to receive
compensatory benefit vests. A ‘legal representative’ may also
include any person who intermeddles with the estate of the
deceased. Such person does not necessarily have to be a legal
heir. Legal heirs are the persons who are entitled to inherit the
surviving estate of the deceased. A legal heir may also be a legal
representative. The term ‘legal representative’ should be given
a wider interpretation for the purpose of Chapter XII of MV Act
and it should not be confined only to mean the spouse, parents
and children of the deceased. MV Act is a benevolent legislation
enacted for the object of providing monetary relief to the victims
or their families. Therefore, the MV Act calls for a liberal and
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wider interpretation to serve the real purpose underlying the
enactment and fulfil its legislative intent. In order to maintain a
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