In Brief
A 20-year-old C.A. student, Sonu Kumar Goyal, died in a motor accident in 2008. The original tribunal awarded Rs 4,31,000 in compensation based on rejected income certificates and a multiplier of 11 (applied based on parental age). The appellants challenged the decision. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that unproven income certificates cannot be accepted without witness testimony, and that the multiplier must be based on the deceased's age (17), not the parents'. With a 40% addition for future prospects, the revised compensation was Rs 8,86,800/-, with interest at 7.5% p.a. from the petition filing date.
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