In Brief
A government employee died in circumstances giving rise to a claim for compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act. The question was whether compensation already received by the dependents under a government scheme for deceased employees' dependents should be deducted from the motor vehicle insurance award. The High Court had deducted only 50%. The Supreme Court held that the full amount under the government scheme must be excluded from the motor vehicle compensation, as the dependents cannot receive double compensation for the same loss. However, the Court clarified that no recovery would be made from dependents who had already received the partially reduced amounts. The Court also noted that the High Court had violated the Constitution by ignoring a binding Supreme Court precedent.
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