Under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, what must a claim petition seeking compensation under the head of prosthetic limb or artificial limb be accompanied with?
Coram: K. V. Viswanathan; J.B. Pardiwala
Requisite quotations from at least two or three service providers, enabling the Tribunal to make an informed assessment of the actual cost which may be incurred in the future. The Court concurred with and reiterated that holding in Chandra Mogera, given that almost in every such case no estimate for cost — whether the basic cost of procurement or periodic maintenance — is provided.
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — s.168 — Just compensation — Prosthetic limb — Restitutio in integrum — Assumed life span of seventy years — Block of five years — Government Notification rates — Functional disability — Future prospects — Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — s.168 — Prosthetic limb — Restitutio in integrum — Government rates not binding — Held: Restitutio in integrum entitles an amputee to procure a prosthetic limb of his own choice from a private centre; where the provision claimed is reasonable it is no answer for the defendant to point to cheaper options. The rates in the Government Notification, being abysmally low, are rejected. (¶26, 27) Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — s.168 — Prosthetic limb — Assumed life span seventy years — Block of five years — Held further: Compensation for a prosthetic limb is computed on an assumed life span of seventy years with a block of five years as the reasonable replacement period, so a claimant aged thirty-two at the accident needs seven limbs, besides maintenance cost. (¶30, 31, 33) Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — s.168 — Prosthetic limb — Quotations from service providers — Held further: A claim for compensation under the head of prosthetic limb must be accompanied with requisite quotations from at least two or three service providers, enabling the Tribunal to make an informed assessment of the actual cost. (¶29) Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — s.168 — Monthly income — No documentary evidence — Functional disability — Held further: Documentary evidence of income cannot be expected from persons employed in that strata of income, and an amputated driver who can no longer drive heavy vehicles has a functional disability of hundred per cent. Appeal allowed. (¶35, 39)
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