SC invokes Article 142 to acquit POCSO convict after victim marries him
However, the apex court clarified that the relief was being granted in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and would not serve as a precedent.
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Thursday described housewives or homemakers as “nation builders” and set Rs 30,000 as their basic minimum monthly income for the purpose of motor accident insurance compensation.
Recognising the economic and social value of unpaid domestic work, the Supreme Court directed that a separate compensation component titled “loss of domestic care” be awarded in motor accident cases involving their death.
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A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N. Kotiswar Singh allowed an appeal filed by the legal heirs of a woman who died in a road accident in Haryana in 2001. The court raised the compensation from Rs 8.43 lakh to Rs 62.77 lakh.
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“The ‘homemakers’, to put it directly, actually are the ‘nation builders’ and they ought to be recognised as such,” the cpurt observed, while delivering its judgment.
In the order, the Justice Karol-led Bench recorded that assessing the contribution of homemakers solely through notional income figures often results in inadequate compensation.
“To measure the contributions of a homemaker and mother… in strictly monetary terms is a task of considerable difficulty,” the apex court said.
The Bench noted that the calculation of compensation based on historically low notional income figures “grossly undervalue” the role of homemakers.
The apex court also introduced a new compensation head called “loss of domestic care”.
Under the judgment, a composite sum of Rs 30,000 per month will be treated as the basic minimum monthly income of a homemaker for compensation purposes, where she has no independent monetary earnings.
The amount will be revised upward by 10 per cent every three years.
“This amount of Rs 30,000, i.e., loss of domestic care, is to be taken as a ‘stand-in’ (basic minimum monthly income) for monthly income in those cases where the homemaker does not have an input into the house, in strictly conventional, monetary terms,” the Supreme Court held.
The case arose from a motor accident on November 25, 2001, in which a woman lost her life while travelling from Sirsa to Fatehabad.
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal had awarded Rs 2.42 lakh in compensation in 2003, which was later enhanced by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to Rs 8.43 lakh in December 2024.
A copy of the judgment has been directed to be sent to all High Courts for compliance and circulation among Motor Accident Claims Tribunals.
(With inputs from agencies)
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