The Madhya Pradesh High Court has declared that solely an Aadhaar card cannot be treated as proof of a person's age or date of birth in motor accident compensation cases. According to the court, an Aadhaar card is mainly meant for identity verification, while a post-mortem report's medical evidence is a more reliable way to confirm the deceased person's age.
The observation was made by Justice Amit Seth while hearing an appeal seeking enhancement of compensation in a motor vehicle accident case. The ruling addressed a dispute over the age of the deceased and its impact on the calculation of compensation.
Dispute Over Age and Compensation Calculation
The dispute centered on how old the deceased actually was. The Aadhaar card showed an age that would give the family higher compensation, but the medical assessment in the post-mortem report stated a different age.
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This age gap arose a lot of difficulties because a person's age decides which source is used to calculate the final compensation payout after a fatal road accident.
Court Explains Evidentiary Value of Aadhaar
The High Court observed that an Aadhaar card is primarily intended to establish an individual's identity only but cannot automatically be established as definitive evidence of age or date of birth.
Further the court ordered that the medical opinion documented in the post-mortem report provides a more reliable basis for assessing the deceased's age in the circumstances of the case.
The ruling highlights the clear legal distinction between identity documents and official age records. This sets an important precedent for motor accident compensation cases where identity cards and medical evidence conflict.
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