Judgment Intelligence
Petition AllowedKumari Baby v. Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (R.S.R.T.C.) & Ors.
Civil Appeal of 2026 (arising out of SLP (C) No. 8221 of 2025)
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Date of Decision
- 15 September 2026
- Bench
- Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekhar
- Relevant Acts & Sections
- Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (claim before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal)
Final Outcome
Appeal allowed: the High Court's order set aside and the Tribunal's award of Rs 6,11,600 restored (paras 7-8).
Key holdings
- The High Court's reduction of the award from Rs 6,11,600 to Rs 3,36,112 was set aside (paras 5-7).
- The Tribunal's post-remand award of 01.04.2017 was restored (para 7).
- The ruling rests on the facts of the case; no general principle on heads of compensation is stated (para 6).
Brief Facts
The appellant claimed Rs 23,02,000 as compensation for the death of Om Prakash, a labourer aged about 25, in an accident on 20.11.1997 (para 2). The Tribunal awarded Rs 5,45,400 on 11.10.2004 (para 3). On appeals by both sides, the High Court remanded the matter for a fresh inquiry (para 4), and on 01.04.2017 the Tribunal awarded Rs 6,11,600. On appeal (S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 3194/2017), the High Court at Jaipur reduced it to Rs 3,36,112 by its order of 05.07.2024 (para 5).
Court's Findings
In the facts and circumstances of the case, the Supreme Court held that the High Court ought not to have reduced the compensation allowed to the claimant (para 6). It set aside the High Court's order and restored the Tribunal's award (para 7). The short order gives no further reasons and does not discuss the heads of compensation. The record of proceedings shows that the appeal arose from a special leave petition filed with an application for condonation of delay, in which leave was granted.
Legal Principle
An appellate reduction of a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal's award can be set aside where, on the facts, the reduction was unwarranted; the order is fact-specific and states no general rule on assessing compensation or on the heads under which it is awarded (paras 6-7).
