Allowed

Resham Kaur and Others v. Amanjit Singh and Others

Punjab & Haryana HC5 Mar 2026FAO/2616/2022

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Appeal for enhancement of compensation awarded to the mother of a deceased Army Sepoy killed in a road accident. Following Supreme Court precedent, the High Court held that provident fund and insurance fund deductions were impermissible, reassessed income, and enhanced compensation from ₹63,16,252 to ₹95,20,000 with 7.5% interest.

What the court decided

AI extract

Resham Kaur and Others Vs Amanjit Singh and… — Motor Accident Claims | Punjab & Haryana HC (2026)

¶1

FAO-2616-2022 -1-

¶2

IN THE HI G H COURT OF PUNJAB AND H ARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

¶3

305 FAO-2616-2022 (O&M) Date of Decision: 05.03.2026

¶4

Resham K a ur and others

¶5

.…Appellants

¶6

Versus

¶7

Amanjit Singh and others ....Respondents

¶8

CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE NIDHI GUPTA

¶9

Present: - Mr. Ruhani Chadha, Advocat e for the appellants.

¶10

Mr. Amtiaz Sandhu, AAG, P u njab.

¶11

NIDHI GUPTA, J. (ORAL)

¶12

The appellant-claimants who are parents (appellants No. 1 and 2) an d elder brother (appellant No. 3) have filed the present appeal seeking e n hancement of the compensati o n of ₹63,16,252/- awarded to claimant N o. 1 only/mother of deceased-Hardeep Singh by the Motor Accident C laims Tribunal, SBS Nagar (f o r short ‘the learned Tribunal’) vide Awa r d dated 18.10.2021, passed in MAC Petition No. 52 of 2019 dated 07.12.2019 filed under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

¶13

Brief facts of the case are t h at the learned Tribunal on the basis of p leadings and evidence addu c ed before it concluded that deceased- H ardeep Singh, had died in a m o tor vehicular accident that took place on 1 7 .11.2019 due to the rash and n e gligent driving of Bus bearing registratio n No. PB-02-BU-9756 (herei n after ‘the offending vehicle’) being driv e n by respondent No. 1-Amanji t Singh; owned by respondents

¶14

RISHU KATARIA 2026.03.06 16:44 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment.

¶15

FAO-2616-2022

¶16

-2-

¶17

No. 2 to 4. Learned Tribunal awarded the a bove compensation to claimant No. 1/mot h er along with interest @ 7.5 % per annum from the date of filing the c laim petition till actual realiz a tion. All the respondents were held liable to pay the amount of compensa t ion jointly and severally.

¶18

On the last date of hearing i . e. 16.10.2025, following order

¶19

was passe d by this Court:-

¶20

“At the very outset, i t is very fairly submitted by learned counsel for the appe l lants, on instructions, that the present appeal is being p ressed only qua appellant No.1/mother of the deceased.

¶21

It is inter alia submit t ed by learned counsel for the appellants that the deceased w as a Sepoy in the Indian Army and was 23-½ years old at t h e time of death. It is submitted that while assessing the i n come/salary of the deceased certain deductions have bee n made by the Tribunal, which are not permitted as per the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Company Ltd. vs. Nalini and others 2024 SCC Online SC 2252 Law Finder Doc Id #2636955 and National Insurance Company Ltd. vs. Indira Srivastava and others 2008 (1) RCR (Civil) 359 Law Finder Doc Id #135913. It is su b mitted that for instance the deductions have been made in respect of the Armed Forces Personal Provident Fund a s well as the Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF), whi c h were not permissible as per the aforesaid judgments of th e Hon’ble Supreme Court. Heard.

¶22

Notice of motion for 03 . 3.2026. Ms. Niharika Sharma, A AG, Punjab accepts notice on behalf of respondent Nos.2 to 4 and seeks time to file reply. To be shown immediat e ly after the urgent list.”

¶23

It is reiterated by learned co u nsel for the appellant-claimant

¶24

No. 1 that the deductions made by the le a rned Tribunal under the Heads Armed F o rces Personal Provident Fund as well as the Army Group Insurance F und (AGIF), were not to be m a de in terms of judgments of the Hon’ble A pex Court as mentioned in the order dated 16.10.2025, reproduce d above.

¶25

RISHU KATARIA 2026.03.06 16:44 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment.

¶26

FAO-2616-2022 -3-

¶27

Learned counsel for the resp o ndents is unable to dispute the

¶28

above said decision in law.

¶29

Heard.

¶30

In view of the above, the present appeal is allowed only qua appe l lant/claimant No. 1-Resham Kaur and the amount of compensat i on payable to claimant No. 1 is re-assessed as per the

¶31

structured f ormula in the following manne r :-

¶32

Details	Before the Tribunal	Revised compensation
Income	₹40,037/- per month	₹60,281/- per month
Future pros pects	50% ₹40037+20018 = ₹60,055/-	50% ₹60281+30140.5=₹90421.5/-
Annual inc ome	₹60055x12= ₹7,20,660/- Income tax ₹26,632/- ₹7,20,660-₹26,632 = ₹6,94,028	₹90421.5 x 12 =₹10,85,058/- Income Tax ₹35058/- ₹10,85,058-₹35058 = ₹10,50,000/-
Deduction	50% towards personal expenses ₹6,94,028-₹3,47,014 = ₹3,47,014/-	50% towards personal expenses ₹10,50,000-₹5,25,000 = ₹5,25,000/-
Multiplier	18	18
Amount compensat of ion	₹3,47,014/- x 18 = ₹62,46,252/-	₹5,25,000/- x 18 = ₹94,50,000/-
Loss estat funeral exp e and enses	₹30,000/-	₹15,000/- each under both heads in total ₹30,000/-
Consortium	₹40,000/-	₹40,000/-
Total compensat ion	₹63,16,252/-	₹95,20,000/-
Interest	7.5% per annum	7.5%

¶33

Pending application(s), if any , shall also stand disposed of.

¶34

05.03.2026 ( NIDHI GUPTA ) rishu JUDGE

¶35

Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No

¶36

Whether Reportable Yes/No

¶37

RISHU KATARIA 2026.03.06 16:44 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment.

Resham Kaur and Others v. Amanjit Singh and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What the court decided

Resham Kaur and Others v. Amanjit Singh and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Sanjay and Others Vs Mohit and Others

Sanjay Kumar Vs Municipal Corporation, Taraori and Another

Jasbir Kaur Vs Sant Ranjit Singh Chairman, Bhai Asa Singh Girls College and Others

Shakuntala Devi and Ors. Vs Rahul and Ors.

Salil Gupta Vs Bimal Ghosh

Pinki Rani Vs Mithlesh Kumar and Ors.