Justice JR Midha said, “Even if parents are not dependent on their children at the time of an accident, they will certainly be dependent, both financially and emotionally, upon them at the later stage of their life, as the children were dependent upon their parents in their initial years.”
The High Court made observations while it awarded compensation for loss of dependency to a woman, whose 23-year-old son lost his life in a road accident in 2008, and enhanced the award amount from Rs. 2.42 lakh to Rs. 6.80 lakh.
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal had held that through the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle, the parents of the victim were not entitled to compensation for loss of dependency but only to compensation for loss of the estate.
It was observed the father of the victim worked as a Sub-Inspector with the Delhi Police.
The Court also held that his mother cannot be said to be dependent upon the victim as the husband was employed with the Delhi Police.
The Court said,
“It would therefore be unfair as well as inequitable to deny compensation for loss of dependency to a parent, who may not be dependent on his/her child at the time of accident per se but would become dependent at him or her later age.”
The law imposes a responsibility on the children to maintain their parents.
The High Court directed that a copy of this judgment be sent to the Registrar General who shall circulate it to all Motor Accident Claims Tribunals to note that the principles relating to the loss to the estate in Keith Rowe judgment and Dinesh Adhlak judgment are not applicable to the claim of the parents in respect of the death of their child, claim of children in respect of the death of their parents and claim of a spouse in respect of the death of his/her spouse in a motor accident.
A copy of the judgment was sent to the Delhi Judicial Academy to sensitize the claims tribunals about the principles laid down by this court in this verdict.
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