[2026:RJ-JP:8667] HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 4476/2019 1. Smt. Neeraj W/o Late Shri Radheshyam @ Sanjay @ Santi, Age 28 Year. 2. Kumari Komal D/o Late Shri Radheshyam @ Sanjay @ Santi, Age 11 Year. 3. Ravi Kumar S/o Shivcharan, Aged 46 Year, (Since Deceased) 4. Smt Mohandei W/o Ravi Kumar, Age 51 Year. All Appellants Are R/o Mahukhas, Tehsil Hindon Distt. Karoli. Appellant No. 2 is minor through her Mother Smt Neeraj. ----Claimants-Appellants Versus 1. Balwant Singh S/o Bag Singh, R/o Vareda Tehsil Raniwara, Distt. Jalor (Raj.) (Registered Owner of the Jeep No. RJ-20-C4166) 2. Mukesh Kumar S/o Devi Chand, R/o Panchla Tehsil Sanchaur Distt. Jalor, At Present Reside At Dhoradhal Bheenmal Tehsil Bheenmal Distt. Jalor Rajasthan. (Owner & Supurdgi Holder of the Jeep No.RJ-20-C4166) 3. H.D.F.C. Ergo General Insurance Co. Ltd. Through Its Regional Manager, At Regional Office Near Ahinsa Circle, M Scheme Arhihant Tower, Ashok Marg, Jaipur. (Insurance Co. of the Jeep No. RJ-20-C4166) 4. Husain S/o Gafur Kha, Age 50 Year, R/o Panchla Tehsil Sachaur Distt. Jalor Raj (Driver of the Jeep No. RJ-20-C4166) ----Non Claimants-Respondents For Appellant(s) : Mr. Sunil Jain, Adv. For Respondent(s) : Mr. Chanderdeep Singh Jodha, Adv. HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR Judgment 27/01/2026 1. The present appeal has been filed by the claimants- appellants against the judgment and award dated 04.05.2019 [2026:RJ-JP:8667] (2 of 7) [CMA-4476/2019] passed by learned Additional and Sessions Judge No.1, Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Hindaun City (hereinafter referred to as learned ‘Tribunal’) in Claim Case No. 41/2012, whereby the claim petition filed by the claimants-appellants has been partly allowed and an award of Rs.4,96,000/- has been passed in favour of the claimants-appellants. 2. Learned counsel for the claimants-appellants submits that the learned Tribunal has granted compensation in accordance with the provisions of Section 163A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act of 1988’) whereas, the amended Section 164 of the Act of 1988 should have been applied while deciding the same, therefore, learned counsel on behalf of the claimants-appellants prays that the impugned judgment and award dated 04.05.2019 passed by the learned Tribunal be modified and compensation be enhanced in the light of amended provisions. 3. Learned counsel on behalf of the respondent-Insurance Company argues that the learned Tribunal has rightly assessed the compensation in favour of the claimants-appellants and there is no valid ground to enhance the same. 4. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 5. The facts of the present case pertains to the question of applicability of Section 163A which been substituted by the Motor Vehicles Act (Amendment) Act, 2019 (32 of 2019) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act of 2019’) w.e.f. 01.09.2019. Section 164 has substituted Section 163A which was inserted by Act 54 of [2026:RJ-JP:8667] (3 of 7) [CMA-4476/2019] 1994 in the Act of 1988. Section 163A provide for a predetermined formula for payment of compensation to victims of motor vehicular accident on the basis of age/income of the deceased or the person suffering permanent disability and provided that the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the accident or the authorised insurer is liable to pay compensation in the case of ‘death’ or ‘grievous hurt’ due to accident arising out of the use of the motor vehicle to the legal representatives of the deceased or victim, as the case may be. The amended Second Schedule which had come into effect from 22.05.2018, has also been omitted by the Act of 2019. At present, Section 164 of the Act of 1988, as amended, reads as under: “164. Payment of compensation in case of death of grevious hurt, etc. -- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force or instrument having the force of law, the owner of the motor vehicle or the authorized insurer shall be liable to pay in the case of death or grievous hurt due to any accident arising out of the use of motor vehicle, a compensation, of a sum of five lakh rupees in case of death or of tow and a half lakh rupees in case of grievous hurt to the legal heirs or the victim, as the case may be. (2) In any claim for compensation under sub-section (1), the claimant shall not be required to plead or establish that the death or grievous hurt in respect of which the claim has been made was due to any wrongful act or neglect or default of the owner of the vehicle or of the vehicle or of the vehicle concerned or of any other person. (3) Where, in respect of death or grievous hurt due to an accident arising out of the [2026:RJ-JP:8667] (4 of 7) [CMA-4476/2019] use of motor vehicle, compensation has been paid under any other law for the time being in force, such amount of compensation shall be reduced from the amount of compensation payable under this section.” Therefore, prior to the amendment of 2019, compensation under the no-fault liability principle was governed by Section 163A of the Act of 1988. By virtue of the amendment of 2019, the said provision was substituted by Section 164 providing for payment of fixed statutory compensation, namely Rs.5,00,000/- in case of ‘death’ and Rs.2,50,000/- in case of ‘grievous hurt’. 6. In the present case, the accident occurred on 14.11.2011 which caused death of Radheshyam. The claim petition was decided vide the impugned judgment and award dated 04.05.2019 by the learned Tribunal. It is pertinent to note that the claim petition was decided in accordance with the law applicable at that time, i.e., prior to the 2019 amendment that came into effect on 01.09.2019. Thus, the issue arises, whether the said claim petition and its appeal should be decided in light of the amended provision of Section 164 of the Act of 1988. 7. The Coordinate Bench of this Court in the common order of Ganesh Bairwa Vs. Ramphool Bairwa & Ors (S.B Civil Misc. Appeal No. 2566/2018) and Girraj Vs. Ramphool Bairwa & Ors. (S.B Civil Misc. Appeal No. 2567/2018), decided on 12.05.2022, has held as follows: “14. The only other avenue open to award higher amount on claim under Section 163A in respect of fatal accident, would be to seek application of the 2018 [2026:RJ-JP:8667] (5 of 7) [CMA-4476/2019] amendment to the Second Schedule of the Act or the equivalent 2019 amendment to theAct, which provides for a flat compensation of Rs.5 lacs in case of death and Rs. 2.5 lacs in case of grievous hurt. As the Act of 1988, in the matter of Motor Vehicles Act, which has to be regarded as a beneficial legislation, it stands to reason that the amendment of 2018 to the Second Schedule and the subsequent 2019 amendment to the Act would have to be given effect in this claim where accord and satisfaction might not have been achieved after adjudication.... ....18. Hence, in view of judgments of Manpreet Kaur (supra) and Suren Ch. Ray (supra), Urmila Halder (Supra) this Court is of the view that these appeals are continuation of the proceedings and the amended Section 164 has to be taken into consideration for deciding the same.” 8. The Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of New India Assurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Urmila Halder (SLP (Civil) No. 6260 of 2019) decided on 08.02.2024 has held as follows:- “10. The order of the High Court is well discussed and we agree with the view taken. We may, however, add that a beneficial legislation would necessarily entail the benefit to be passed on to the claimant in the absence of any specific bar to the same. In the present case, the liability of the appellant-Insurance Company has not been interfered with. [2026:RJ-JP:8667] (6 of 7) [CMA-4476/2019] Only the computational mode and the modality have been further clarified, which rightly has been noted by the High Court and accordingly, the claim has been enhanced to ₹5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs).…” 9. In view of the judgments of Ganesh Bairwa (supra) and Urmila Halder (supra), this Court is of the opinion that the amendment brought by the Act of 2019 is beneficial in nature and relates to the quantum of compensation. Since, an appeal is a continuation of the original proceedings, the amended provision can be taken into consideration while deciding the present appeal. 10. Consequently, the impugned judgment and award dated 04.05.2019 passed by the learned Tribunal deserves to be modified to the extent that the claimants-appellants shall be entitled to compensation of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs) in terms of amended Section 164 of the Act of 1988. 11. Accordingly, the present appeal is partly allowed, and the award of Rs.4,96,000/- passed by the learned Additional and Sessions Judge No.1, Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Hindaun City is enhanced to Rs.5,00,000/-. The amount previously received by the claimants-appellants will be adjusted against the award amount and the claimants-appellants are entitled to receive the remaining amount. The claimants-appellants are entitled to receive interest @ 8% per annum on the compensation amount enhanced by this order from the date of filing of the claim petition. [2026:RJ-JP:8667] (7 of 7) [CMA-4476/2019] 12. Accordingly, the present appeal filed by the claimants- appellants stands disposed of, in terms of the discussion made hereinabove. 13. All pending applications, if any, stand disposed of. (ASHUTOSH KUMAR),J AARZOO ARORA /87-S.