MACT - Victim can claim compensation for loss of future prospects apart from future loss of income in cases of permanent disablement

In PAPPU DEO YADAV vs  NARESH KUMAR AND ORS, the insured appealed against the decision of the High Court in reducing the amount awarded for loss of future prospect based on the High Court's interpretation of the decision of the Supreme Court in National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi & Ors. and Jagdish v. Mohan & Ors.

The Supreme Court decided that the High Court is technically correct in holding that Pranay Sethi8 involved assessment of compensation in a case where the victim died. However, it went wrong in saying that later, the three-judge bench decision in "Jagdish" was not binding, but rather that the subsequent decision in "Anant" to the extent that it did not award compensation for future prospects, was binding. This court is of the opinion that there was no justification for the High Court to have read the previous rulings of this court, to exclude the possibility of compensation for future prospects in accident cases involving serious injuries resulting in permanent disablement. Such a narrow reading of "Pranay Sethi" is illogical, because it denies altogether the possibility of the living victim progressing further in life in accident cases - and admits such possibility of future prospects, in case of the victim’s death.

The principle consistently followed by this court in assessing motor vehicle compensation claims, is to place the victim in as near a position as she or he was in before the accident, with other compensatory directions for loss of amenities and other payments. These general principles have been stated andreiterated in several decisions

This court has emphasized time and again that “just compensation” should include all elements that would go to place the victim in as near a position as she or he was in, before the occurrence of the accident. Whilst no amount of money or other material compensation can erase the trauma, pain and suffering that a victim undergoes after a serious accident, (or replace the loss of a loved one), monetary compensation is the manner known to law, whereby society assures some measure of restitution to those who survive, and the victims who have to face their lives.

Courts should not adopt a stereotypical or myopic approach, but instead, view the matter taking into account the realities of life, both in the assessment of the extent of disabilities, and compensation under various heads.