Supreme Court Clarifies Aadhaar's Role in Age Verification for Accident Compensation

The Supreme Court has overturned a Punjab and Haryana High Court decision, asserting that an Aadhaar card cannot solely determine age for compensation in road accident cases. The court favored the deceased's school leaving certificate for age verification, impacting the compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

The Supreme Court on Thursday overruled a Punjab and Haryana High Court decision that accepted Aadhaar cards as proof of age for granting compensation to road accident victims.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that age should be confirmed via the school leaving certificate as outlined in Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

The decision followed a claim by a family appealing MACT's reduced compensation ruling, highlighting a discrepancy in age calculation based on Aadhaar versus school records.

(With inputs from agencies.)