The judges of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals (MACT) will have to be sensitised on the requirement of ascertaining functional disability, with reference to avocation of claimant, from the nature of physical disabilities caused due to injuries suffered in the accidents. This is necessary for proper calculation of compensation for loss of income due to functional disabilities, said the High Court of Karnataka.

“In umpteen numbers of judgments of the tribunals, it is observed that the nature of the injuries and the manner how it would translate into functional disability are seldom discussed. The tribunals are jumping to the conclusion on the basis the disability stated by a medical officer,” the court said.

Justice C.M. Joshi passed the order while reducing the compensation awarded by a MACT in Bidar from ₹9.36 lakh to ₹2.68 lakh, for loss of income due to functional disability caused owing to injuries to an accident victim. The court said the tribunal had not properly considered the nature of injuries caused to the claimant.

“Non-mentioning of the nature of the injuries suffered, or describing them simply as grievous or simple, would not reflect that the tribunals have applied their mind to the nature of the injuries in ascertaining functional disabilities,” the court said.

Therefore, the court said: “it is expected from the tribunals that the nature of the injuries suffered and the manner how it will translate into functional disability is to be stated, in the facts and circumstances, especially with reference to the avocation of the claimant.”

“It is also obvious that the medical officers would give their opinion in respect of the physical disability, but they are not capable of giving the functional disability as the avocation of the injured is not brought before them,” Justice Joshi said while pointing out that the tribunals will have act on the principles laid down by the apex court judgments on how the percentage of loss of earning capacity is not the same as the percentage of physical disability.

Assessing disability

The High Court said it is necessary that judges of the tribunals are sensitised with the requirement of mentioning the nature of the injuries suffered by the injured in their judgments as without the description of injuries and co-relating it to the disability, it is not possible to infer that the tribunals had applied their mind to assess the functional disability.

The court directed its registry to send the copy of the order to the Karnataka Judicial Academy to devise training programmes to sensitise judges of tribunals in this regard.