The court upheld that the work of a homemaker must be assigned value in terms of money for working out compensation to the remaining family members who are dependents on services provided by her and her contribution to the family.
Giving this judgment, a division bench of Justice Sunil Ambwani and Justice A N Mithal dismissed a first appeal from order filed by the Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd.
The court upheld the order passed by Motor Accident Claim Tribunal of Maharaj Ganj, which awarded the compensation of Rs 2,68,500 to be paid by the insurance company to the legal representative and dependants of Safia Khatoon, aged about 50 years, who died in a road accident.
The court rejected the plea of the counsel appearing for the Insurance Company, who had said that since the woman had no income it could not be said that any of the claimants were dependent on her income to receive compensation.
The court said "On the present value of money, the notional income of Rs 30,000 per month suggested in Sarala Verma's case at Rs 1,000 per day in the year 2009 for calculating the income of a person whose employment was not proved by any reliable evidence will be equally-applicable to the married women, whose contribution to the family as a home maker has to be given the same value as other earning members".
