Summary
The Supreme Court enhanced compensation for a loadman who lost sensation and movement in both legs after a motor accident. Although the medical assessment recorded 70% disability, his inability to perform his occupation amounted to complete functional disability. The deduction made from loss-of-income compensation was restored, rounded to Rs.3 lakh. Interest was fixed at 9% per annum on the total compensation from the claim-petition date, with the differential amount payable within eight weeks.
Issues
- Whether 70% medical disability adequately represented a loadman’s complete occupational incapacity.
- Whether counsel’s statement about just compensation barred a challenge to its adequacy.
- What enhancement and interest were appropriate.
Held
- Disability must be assessed realistically in relation to earning capacity. Complete loss of sensation below the abdomen made the claimant incapable of further work as a loadman. Reducing the computed loss-of-income sum by 30% on the basis of the medical percentage was therefore unjustified. (¶¶ 3, 5, 8)
- Counsel’s statement before the High Court concerning whether compensation was just and reasonable did not constitute a binding concession precluding examination of its adequacy in these proceedings. (¶¶ 6, 7)
- The Rs.2,91,600 deduction was restored and rounded to an enhancement of Rs.3 lakh. Interest was fixed at 9% per annum on the entire compensation from the date of the claim petition, substituting the High Court’s 7.5% rate; the differential was payable within eight weeks. (¶¶ 8, 9)
Result
Appeal allowed. Compensation enhanced by Rs.3 lakh above the Tribunal’s Rs.11,27,359 award, with 9% annual interest on the total from the claim-petition date. Differential payable within eight weeks; no costs.