Deep Shikha vs National Insurance Company Ltd 2025 INSC 675 - MV Act - Married Daughter - Dependency Compensation
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 - Sections 140, 166,168 - Motor Accident Compensation - When a married daughter fails to prove that she was being financially supported by her mother post marriage, she cannot be said to be a dependent of her mother, the deceased - Once a daughter is married, logical presumption is that she now has rights on her matrimonial household and is also financially supported by her husband or his family, unless proven otherwise. It is more than likely that her dependence on her natal family, including her mother has now ceased. Sections 166 and 168 focus on the financial relationship between the deceased and the Claimant. A married daughter may be considered a legal representative, but she will not be eligible for loss of dependency compensation unless it is proven by the daughter that she was financially dependent- Referred to in Manjuri Bera & Anr. vs. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. (2007) 10 SCC 634 - As the legal representative of the deceased, she will only be entitled to compensation envisaged in Section 140 as liability under the same does not cease to exist in the absence of dependency. (Para 13-14)
Maintenance - The obligation of a child to maintain their parent in old age is as much of a duty as the obligation of a parent to maintain their child during minority. (Para 16)
