Game of chance in computing damages
Judicial vagaries in computing compensation in road accidents give it an element of luck. This was the moral of three judgments delivered by the Supreme Court last fortnight. When Harish (35) died in an accident, the tribunal awarded his wife and two minor daughters Rs 12.55 lakh. He was running two taxis and earning Rs 1 lakh a year. But the insurance company appealed to the Uttarakhand High Court. It arbitrarily halved the amount ruling that Harish was a government servant, not a taxi driver. There was no evidence to conclude that. On appeal,