Summary
The Supreme Court held that motor accident claimants could not be denied interest on enhanced compensation for the years their appeal lay pending in the High Court merely because their counsel delayed serving the paper book on the insurer's counsel, while upholding denial of interest for the 708-day delay in filing the appeal.
Issues
- Whether the compensation as enhanced by the High Court called for further enhancement.
- Whether claimants could be denied interest on enhanced compensation for the period during which their counsel failed to supply the paper book to the insurer's counsel while the appeal was pending.
- Whether denial of interest for the period of delay in filing the appeal, imposed as a condition of condonation, was justified.
Held
- The High Court's assessment of the deceased driver's income at Rs. 8,750 per month and the amounts awarded under the other heads were appropriate and did not call for interference. (¶ 9)
- The condition imposed while condoning the 708-day delay in filing the appeal, that no interest would be payable for that period on any enhanced compensation, was reasonable, since the delay in filing was attributable to the claimants themselves. (¶ 10)
- Once the appeal was before the Court, a delay in supplying the paper book to the insurer's counsel during its pendency is not a fault of the claimants comparable to filing an appeal beyond limitation; the claimants alone could not be held responsible for it, and they should not be deprived of interest for that period. (¶¶ 10, 11)
Result
Appeal partly allowed; the High Court's order modified so that the claimants receive interest at the same rate for the period 22.06.2016 to 13.07.2023, the denial of interest for the 708-day delay in filing the appeal being maintained; no order as to costs.