NEW DELHI: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Thursday recognised homemakers as nation builders and held that loss of domestic care services should be counted as a separate head of compensation. The Court fixed a notional monthly income of Rs 30,000 for the purpose of computing such loss.
A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Sanjay Karol and also comprising Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, highlighted the economic worth of unpaid household work and said the term ‘homemaker’ should now stand for ‘nation builder’.
“Housewives contribute to the household. They are nation builders. They build the nation. How do you assess that contribution and monetise it? The word ‘homemaker’ would now acquire the acronym of nation builder," the bench observed.
The Court in its ruling further added that it had passed directions and expressed hope and trust that Chief Justices of all High Courts would oversee the issue.
"We have evolved a new principle and laid down that loss of domestic care should be monetised as minimum Rs 30,000 per month, in addition to all other available avenues under the Supreme Court judgment in the Pranay Sethi case," said Justice Karol while pronouncing the operative part of the judgment.
The bench further added that loss of domestic care must be treated as an additional head of compensation, recognising the significant yet often unpaid contribution of homemakers to families and society.
The apex court pronounced the judgment after hearing an appeal arising from a motor accident claim in Punjab where a woman named Reshma died in a road accident in November 2001.
Following this, her husband and three children approached the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal seeking compensation. While the tribunal awarded compensation in 2003, the case remained pending before the Punjab and High Court, which decided the appeal only in December 2024, more than two decades after the accident.
Delving into such delays in the dispensation of compensation in motor accident claims of victims, the top court expressed its concern and said motor accident compensation claims should ordinarily be decided within one year.
The court further went a step further in the case and requested all Chief Justices of State High Courts to monitor motor accident claim cases and issue appropriate administrative directions to ensure that such matters are disposed of within the stipulated timeframe, so that victims receive appropriate compensation as per law.
