The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that an Aadhaar card cannot be treated as conclusive proof of age, asserting that a postmortem report provides a more reliable medical assessment in legal disputes. Justice Amit Seth delivered the order while deciding an appeal regarding compensation for the parents of a 13-year-old boy who died in a motor vehicle accident on December 24, 2019.
The case, Rajesh Singh and Another v Rahul Singh and Others, involved a dispute over the deceased's age, which directly impacted the calculation of compensation. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Bhind had originally determined the boy's age as 14 years, seven months, and nine days based on his Aadhaar card. However, the insurance company challenged this, arguing that the postmortem report recorded his age as 13 years and that Aadhaar data is not a definitive record for age verification.
Justice Seth agreed with the insurance company's contention. Noting that the postmortem report is based on a scientific medical examination, the court held that it deserved greater evidentiary weight. Consequently, the court accepted the boy's age as 13 years at the time of the incident.
The court also recalculated the compensation awarded to the parents, increasing it by Rs 2.80 lakh from the original Rs 5.45 lakh granted by the MACT in September 2022. The total compensation was fixed at Rs 8,25,500, including six per cent annual interest. This adjustment followed the court's decision to fix the boy's monthly notional income at Rs 7,950, based on minimum wages for an unskilled worker, and to apply a multiplier of 15, as established in Supreme Court precedents for individuals under 15 years old.
Key facts
- The accident occurred on December 24, 2019.
- The Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling was issued on November 3, 2026.
- The final compensation awarded to the parents was Rs 8,25,500 with six per cent annual interest.
- The court fixed the monthly notional income of the deceased at Rs 7,950.
- Justice Amit Seth applied a multiplier of 15 in the compensation calculation.
Why it matters
The ruling clarifies the hierarchy of documentation in legal proceedings, establishing that government-issued identity cards like Aadhaar do not supersede medical or scientific reports when determining a person's age. This precedent is expected to influence how motor accident tribunals across the country calculate compensation for minors in future litigation.
Source: News18, Indian Express
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