New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday enhanced the compensation awarded by the Madras High Court to the parents of a man, who was pursuing an MBA degree and had died in a road accident in May 2010.

The apex court observed the monthly income of the deceased, as calculated by the high court, which had enhanced the "notional income" and raised the compensation to over Rs 16.27 lakh, was inadequate.

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While enhancing the compensation by Rs 29.84 lakh, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and C T Ravikumar noted the deceased, who was a qualified engineering graduate, was aged 23 at the time of the accident and was pursuing an MBA degree to further his professional capabilities.

The total compensation to the parents will now stand at Rs 46.11 lakh.

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"In view of the specific averments made in the affidavit as to the employment prospects of the classmates of the deceased.... and also his young age at the time of the accident, we are of the considered view that the tribunal and the high court have erred in not giving due weightage to the same," the bench said in its verdict.

The judgement was delivered on an appeal filed by the parents of the man against the January 2020 verdict of the Madras High Court.

The top court noted had the deceased not met with the unfortunate accident, he would have surely drawn a salary equivalent to that of his classmates or at least an amount near the said amount.

"Furthermore, the deceased was the only issue of the appellants. Since no parent should have to suffer through the death of their children, much less their only child, we are of the considered view that the monthly income as calculated by the high court is inadequate," the bench said.

It said the compensation to be paid on account of the death ought to be worked out by enhancing his monthly income to Rs 30,000.

"The enhanced compensation of Rs 29,84,000 along with interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent per annum shall be paid to the appellants within a period of three months from the date of this judgment," the bench said.

It noted that the man was riding on a motorcycle in Chennai when a bus owned by an engineering college dashed against his vehicle from the backside and dragged him under the wheels due to which he died.

His parents approached the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal for grant of compensation. The tribunal had passed an award of Rs 7.48 lakh as compensation.

The apex court noted that the tribunal had fixed the notional monthly income of the deceased at Rs 7,000 since he was not earning any salary at the time of the accident.

Later, the parents approached the high court seeking enhancement of the compensation.

The high court had raised the notional income to Rs 10,000 per month and enhanced the compensation to Rs 16,27,000.

The apex court noted that a perusal of the affidavit filed by the appellant before the tribunal would reveal that she had specifically stated that two of her son's classmates were employed with well-­known companies and were drawing monthly income of around Rs 40,000.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)