In an appeal filed against a judgment of the Motor Accident Appellate Tribunal, the Jodhpur bench of the Rajasthan High Court held that notwithstanding the fact that there was no evidence to show that the deceased was employed, calculating the income of an 18-year-old based on the minimum wage of an unskilled workforce was unjustified.

In doing so, the court further pointed out that the calculation should have been made on the basis of the wages of a semi-skilled workforce.

Bank of Justice Rekha Borana heard the appellants’ appeal on the ground that the Tribunal had wrongly calculated the income of the deceased on the basis of the wages of an unskilled laborer while the deceased was employed in the power plant as a mechanic earning Rs. 8000 per month. Counsel submitted that even otherwise, taking into account the age of the deceased, the income should have been calculated on the basis of the wages of at least a semi-skilled workforce.

On the contrary, counsel for the respondent Insurance Company submitted that there was no evidence available on record to show that the deceased was employed anywhere or was earning any amount, rather the deceased’s mother in her cross-examination expressly admitted that the deceased was a student.

After hearing both sides, the Court agreed with the arguments advanced on behalf of the applicants and held that,

“It is true that no document in support of the said statement/evidence has been brought on record but then this court cannot lose sight of the fact that the deceased was only 18 years of age and therefore had a huge scope to excel in life. and a bright future. Therefore, the calculation of his income on the basis of the minimum wage for unskilled labor cannot be considered reasonable.”

In this context, the Court held that it was appropriate to calculate the deceased’s income based on the minimum wage of the semi-skilled workforce at that time.

Accordingly, the petition was disposed of.

Title: Smt. Gurvinder Kaur v. Bhanwara Ram & Ors.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 445

Click here to read/download the order