Disposed

Poonam & Ors. v. Pintu & Ors.

Delhi HC7 Apr 2026MAC.APP./293/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Appeal for enhancement of compensation in a motor accident death case where the Tribunal used a truncated salary slip despite an unchallenged Pay Certificate showing higher income. The court recomputed income after tax, applied Pranay Sethi principles to consortium, funeral and loss-of-estate heads, and enhanced compensation to Rs.75,28,955/-.

What did the court decide?

Compensation enhanced to Rs.75,28,955 with 7.5% interest; Insurance Company directed to deposit enhanced amount within four weeks before MACT.

Poonam & Ors. Vs Pintu & Ors. — Motor Accident Claims | Delhi HC (2026)

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$~68

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- MAC.APP. 293/2024

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POONAM & ORS. .....Appellants

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Through: Mr. Himanshu K. and Mr. Tanuj Sindhu, Advs.

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versus

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PINTU & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Pankaj Seth and Ms. Shruti Jain, Advs. for Insurance Company.

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CORAM:

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HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANISH DAYAL

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O R D E R % 07.04.2026

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Mr. Tanuj Sindhu , counsel for appellant, seeks enhancement of the compensation awarded vide judgment dated 7^th February 2024 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, South-West, Dwarka Courts, New Delhi (‘ MACT ’) in MACT No.998/2017. The deceased was 36 years of age and was working as a driver in Delhi Transport Corporation. He died in an accident on 11^th July 2017 while he was travelling on his motorcycle to join his duty.

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It has been stated that he was earning Rs.36,736 /- per month, as per Ex.PW3/A , being the Pay Certificate issued under the seal of the Depot Manager. However, the MACT relied upon the truncated salary noted in the salary slip for July 2017, in which, he had worked for only six days, and considered the gross salary as Rs.23,061 /-, from which deduction of children education allowance was done, resulting in net income being taken as Rs.13,961.80 /-.

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2026 at 11:50:29

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3. PW3, who produced the Pay Certificate as Ex.PW3/A , was crossexamined by the Insurance Company; however, there was no confrontation on the issue of the Pay Certificate. Accordingly, there was no reason why this Pay Certificate ought not to have been considered by the MACT.

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On the issue of computation of taxes on the gross salary of Rs.36,736/, the taxes, which would be applicable for the Financial Year 2017-2018 (corresponding Assessment Year 2018-2019), since the deceased had expired on 11^th July 2017, has been furnished by the counsel for the appellant.

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After deduction of medical allowance at Rs.100/- , the annual income of the deceased would be Rs.36,636/- , and the annual income would be Rs.4,39,632/-.

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After allowing statutory exemption of Rs.2,50,000/- , the net taxable income would be Rs.1,89,632/-, which falls within the 5% tax slab. Accordingly, the total tax liability would be Rs.9,481/- + Rs. 284/- towards education cess at 3% .

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Therefore, the net salary after deduction of tax of Rs. 9,766/- ( Rs.9,481/- + Rs. 284/-) would be Rs. 4,39,632/- and the net monthly income would be Rs.35,822/- per month .

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Accordingly, the annual dependency ought to be calculated taking this into account.

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Some other alignments are also required to be made in terms of principles laid down in National Insurance Company v. Pranay Sethi & Ors. (2017) 16 SCC 680, as the accident took place on 11^th July 2017:

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i. Rs. 2,20,000/- , i.e. Rs. 44,000/- to each of the 5 dependents was awarded towards the loss of consortium, however, as the principle laid down in Pranay Sethi ( supra ) Rs 40,000/- ought to be awarded to each

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2026 at 11:50:29

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claimant. Therefore, loss of consortium would be Rs. 40,000/- X 5 = Rs. 2,00,000/- .

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ii. Funeral expenses were awarded at Rs. 17,000/-; shall be reduced to Rs. 15,000/- in terms of Pranay Sethi (supra).

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iii. Loss of estate awarded at Rs. 17,000/-; shall also be reduced to Rs. 15,000/- in terms of Pranay Sethi (supra).

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10. The revised computation is as under:

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S. No.	Heads of compensation	Awarded by the Tribunal	Awarded by this Court
1	Income of deceased (A) (less IncomeTax)	Rs.13,961.80/-	Rs. 35,822/-
2	Add Future Prospects (B)	Rs. 6980.90/- (50% of Rs.13,961.80/-)	Rs. 17,911/- (50% of Rs:35,822/-)
3	Less Personal expenses of the deceased (C)	Rs. 5235.67/- (1/4^th of Rs. 20,852.7)	Rs. 13,433.25/- (1/4^th of Rs. 53,733)
4	Monthly loss of dependency [(A +B)-C= D]	Rs. 15,707.03/-	Rs. 40,299.75/-
5	Annual loss of dependency (Dx12)	Rs. 1,88,484.36/-	Rs. 4,83,597/-
6	Multiplier(E)	15	15
7	Total loss of dependency (Dx12xE = F)	Rs. 28,27,265.40/-	Rs. 72,53,955/-
8	Education allowance(G)	Rs. 45,000/-	Rs. 45,000/-
9	Compensation for loss of consortium(H)	Rs. 2,20,000/- (5x RS.44,000/-)	Rs. 2,00,000/- (5x Rs.40,000/-)
10	Compensation for loss of love andaffection(I)	NIL	NIL
11	Compensation for loss of estate (J)	Rs. 17,000/-	Rs. 15,000/-
12	Compensation towards funeral expenses (K)	Rs. 17,000/-	Rs. 15,000/-
13	Total compensation (F+G+H+I+J+K = L)	Rs. 31,26,266/-	Rs. 75,28,955/-
14	Rate of Interest Awarded	7.5%per annum	7.5%per annum

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The enhanced amount of compensation shall be deposited by the

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2026 at 11:50:29

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Insurance Company within the next four weeks before the MACT, which will be disbursed as per the scheme directed by the MACT in the impugned award.

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Accordingly, the appeal stands disposed of.

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Pending applications, if any, are also disposed of as being rendered infructuous.

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Order be uploaded on the website of this Court.

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ANISH DAYAL, J

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APRIL 7, 2026/MK/ bp

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 15/04/2026 at 11:50:29

Poonam & Ors. v. Pintu & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

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Poonam & Ors. v. Pintu & Ors.

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