New Delhi: Offering succour to dependents of road accident victims, the Supreme Court has ruled that while determining a compensation courts should not just consider the victim's monthly pay but also perks which are beneficial to his entire family.

The apex court wants the killed victims' family to be compensated for not just the loss of his monthly income, but also other related benefits like superannuation benefits and benefits related to education of children.

The ruling is likely to bring cheers to millions of families of road accident victims as it entitles them to higher compensation, since courts till date mostly awarded compensation on the basis of the net take-home salary of a deceased.

"The basis for considering the entire pay packet is what the dependents have lost due to death of the deceased. It is the nature of compensation for future loss towards the family income," a bench of Justices S B Sinha and H S Bedi said.

Interpreting the term "just compensation" used in Section 168 of the Central Motor Vehicle Tax, the apex court said it must be considered on a case to case basis in the changing societal conditions by giving weightage to perks which are paid to employees.

The apex court passed the ruling while dismissing the appeal of the public sector National Insurance Company Limited which contended that in case of a road accidents, the dependents were entitled to compensation only on the basis of the net take-home salary of the deceased.

Source : PTI