Failure to wear helmet | Madras High Court deducts ₹13.42 lakh from compensation to family

Madras High Court reduces compensation by 15% for family of deceased Army man due to helmet negligence.

Failure to wear a helmet while riding a two-wheeler may not only lead to death but also denial of full compensation to family members. The Madras High Court has recently deducted ₹13.42 lakh from the compensation awarded to the widow, two minor children and an aged father of a motor accident victim solely because he was not wearing a helmet.

A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and R. Sakthivel held that the family members were actually entitled to a total compensation of ₹89.49 lakh. However, since the deceased, an Army man, was not wearing helmet at time of the accident, the judges deducted 15% (₹13.42 lakh) from the compensation amount towards contributory negligence on the part of the victim.

Though the counsel for the claimants requested the court to not deduct any amount from the compensation, the judges refused to accept the plea. The insurance company was ordered to pay only ₹76.06 lakh, to the family of four, after the deduction. The widow would be entitled to ₹26.06 lakh, the minor children should get ₹22 lakh each and the aged father should be given ₹6 lakh, the judges said.

They also made it clear that the compensation should be paid with interest at the rate of 7.5% from the day when the claim was made in 2017. Further, the minor children’s share should be deposited in a nationalised bank until they attain a majority, the judges said and granted eight weeks for United India Insurance Company to pay the entire compensation amount along with interest.

The orders were passed while partly allowing an appeal preferred by the insurance company in 2021 challenging an order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Vaniyambadi in Tirupattur district. The company argued that the tribunal had wrongly considered the 34-year-old accident victim’s monthly income to be ₹47,649 overlooking the fact that ₹6,674 of that amount had been paid as arrears of allowance and pay.

Accepting the argument, the judges fixed his monthly income to be ₹40,674 to arrive at the total compensation of ₹89.49 lakh after considering his remaining period of service and adding other components such as his future prospects, loss of consortium to the family, loss of love and affection, funeral expenses and so on.

The wife of the victim had travelled in the pillion with him when the accident occurred on February 2, 2017. He rammed against another two wheeler which was speeding on the wrong side of a bypass road and died. The woman escaped with injuries to institute the claim for compensation for herself and on behalf of her daughter and son who were aged six and five respectively when their father died.