The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that an Aadhaar card alone cannot be treated as reliable proof of a person's age while deciding compensation in motor accident claims, reaffirming the distinction between proof of identity and proof of date of birth.
The court observed that a claimant's age should be established through more credible and legally admissible documents such as birth certificates, school records or medical evidence, reported Live Law.
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The ruling came while hearing three connected motor accident appeals, in which the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal had relied solely on the Aadhaar card of an injured claimant, Ranjit Bhunjia, to assess his age as 68 years. This resulted in the application of a lower multiplier for calculating the loss of future earnings and reduced compensation.
However, the High Court noted that the claimant's petition, medical records and disability certificate indicated his age to be between 60 and 65. Referring to a 2024 Supreme Court judgment, the court held that reliance on Aadhaar for age determination was misplaced and recalculated the compensation, increasing the claimant's award from Rs 96,400 to Rs 3.90 lakh. Compensation payable to the families of two deceased victims was also enhanced.
The court also clarified that an insurer's liability commences only from the date and time specified in the insurance policy, and not merely when the premium is received. In the case before it, although the premium had been credited before the accident, the policy became effective only after the mishap, absolving the insurer of liability for the intervening period.
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Further, the High Court rejected the plea of contributory negligence based solely on the fact that three persons were riding a motorcycle, holding that a traffic violation by itself cannot amount to contributory negligence unless it is shown to have directly contributed to the accident.
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