Orissa HC hikes compensation to family of veterinary officer killed in 2013 road accident
The HC held that the family of Dr Bijaya Kumar Mishra, then sub-divisional veterinary officer in Khurda, was entitled to a total compensation of ₹48,26,611.
The Orissa high court has enhanced the compensation payable to the family of a government veterinary officer killed in a 2013 road accident, directing the insurer to pay an additional ₹26,73,675 with 6% annual interest from the date of the claim.
Justice V Narasingh, delivering judgment in a motor accident claims case, held that the family of Dr Bijaya Kumar Mishra, then sub-divisional veterinary officer in Khurda, was entitled to a total compensation of ₹48,26,611 — more than double the amount awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Cuttack, in 2017.
The tribunal had earlier awarded ₹21,52,936 to Mishra’s widow Surama Pati, and children, Bijeta and Sarthak Mishra, for his death in a car crash near Purighat Police Station on November 23, 2013. The family had sought ₹50 lakh.
Justice Narasingh noted that the tribunal had erred in not considering the deceased’s full salary for November 2013, which was ₹68,360 per month, and had failed to account for future prospects. The judge accepted the appellants’ contention that the salary certificate (Exhibit 17) clearly established the monthly income and that the tribunal’s deduction of income tax and its failure to factor in the increase in salary resulted in “a gross miscarriage of justice.”
Citing landmark Supreme Court rulings, including National Insurance Co Ltd vs Pranay Sethi (2017), Sarla Verma vs DTC (2009), and Magma General Insurance Co Ltd vs Nanu Ram (2018), the court recalculated compensation on the touchstone of “just compensation”.
The judgment reaffirmed that the concept of consortium extends to spousal and parental loss, and that separate compensation for “loss of love and affection” should not be granted beyond this conventional head.
The HC computed the deceased’s annual income at ₹7,83,094 and deducted income tax and professional tax, arriving at ₹6,98,975 as net income. Applying a 10% addition for future prospects and a multiplier of nine (given Mishra’s age of 55 years), the total compensation under the head of loss of dependency was fixed at ₹46,63,701.
Adding ₹18,000 each for funeral expenses and loss of estate, ₹48,000 towards spousal consortium, and ₹96,000 for parental consortium, and deducting ₹17,090 for family pension, the court arrived at a total of ₹48,26,611.
The insurer — New India Assurance Co Ltd — was directed to pay the enhanced amount of ₹26,73,675 (the difference) with 6% interest per annum from December 16, 2013, (the date of filing the claim) until actual payment. Failure to pay within six weeks would attract a penal interest of 9% per annum.
The court ordered that 25% of the enhanced compensation be released to the widow, 25% to the two children in equal proportion, and the remaining 50% kept in a fixed deposit for five years in a nationalized bank, not to be withdrawn without tribunal permission.
