Life insurance proceeds are not deductible from motor accident compensation; contractual benefits do not reduce just compensation.

Amounts received under a deceased person's life insurance policy are not deductible from compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. The statutory power to award "just" compensation under Section 110-B has a broader and more beneficial scope than the older fatal accidents regime. Life insurance proceeds arise from contract and premium payments, and are payable independently of accidental death, so they have no necessary correlation with the pecuniary loss caused by the motor accident. The loss-and-gain principle applies only to advantages flowing from the accidental death itself, not to contractual or savings-based benefits. The claimants are therefore entitled to full compensation without set-off.

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Issues: Whether the amount received by the claimants under the deceased's life insurance policy is deductible from the compensation payable under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under Section 110-B of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 confers power on the Claims Tribunal to award compensation that appears to be just, which gives the provision a wider and more beneficial ambit than the older fatal accidents regime. The amount payable under a life insurance policy arises from a contract and the insured's premium payments, and is receivable independently of whether death is accidental. It therefore has no necessary correlation with the pecuniary loss caused by the motor accident. The principle of balancing loss and gain applies only to advantages that arise by reason of the accidental death and not to sums earned through the deceased's own savings or contractual arrangements.

Conclusion: The life insurance amount is not deductible from the compensation computed under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, and the deduction made by the courts below was . The claimants are entitled to the full compensation without such set-off.

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