The Supreme Court has ruled that homemakers' unpaid domestic work must be monetised at a minimum of ₹30,000 per month while calculating compensation for their deaths in road mishaps.
The bench of justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh rejected the long-standing judicial practice of equating homemakers' notional income with skilled labourers' wages, declaring homemakers as 'nation builders'.
The ruling came in an appeal arising from a motor accident claim in Punjab, where a woman named Reshma died in a road accident in November 2001.
The court further requested the chief justices of all high courts to monitor motor accident claim cases and issue administrative directions to ensure that such matters are disposed of within a year.
The judgment is expected to have far-reaching implications, significantly enhancing compensation amounts in cases involving the death of homemakers.
