The Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar Card cannot be used as proof of age in motor accident compensation cases, emphasizing the use of school leave certificates as a more authoritative source under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. This decision overturns a previous High Court ruling that relied on Aadhaar for age determination.
New Delhi: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court (SC) today set aside a High Court’s decision to rely on the date of birth mentioned in the Aadhaar Card to determine the age of the victim in a motor accident compensation case. The bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Ujjal Bhuyan, emphasized that the Aadhaar Card is not suitable proof of age in such matters.
The Supreme Court observed that rather than relying on the date of birth in the Aadhaar Card, the age of the deceased can be more accurately determined from the school leave certificate, which holds statutory recognition under Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
This case revolved around a compensation dispute. The Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal (MACT) had initially awarded a compensation of Rs. 19,35,400 to the legal representatives (LRs) of the deceased. However, the High Court later reduced this amount to Rs. 9,22,336 after applying a different age multiplier based on the date of birth mentioned in the deceased’s Aadhaar Card. According to the Aadhaar, the deceased was 47 years old, and the High Court applied a multiplier of 13 to calculate the compensation.
However, the appellants contested the High Court’s decision, arguing that the Aadhaar Card was not the correct document to determine the deceased’s age. They referred to the school leave certificate, which indicated that the deceased was 45 years old at the time of the incident, necessitating a multiplier of 14 to be applied instead.
Finding merit in the appellant’s argument, the judgment authored by Justice Karol reviewed various High Court decisions on whether an Aadhaar Card can be relied upon as proof of age. The Court ultimately determined that Aadhaar should not be used as a document to verify age in such cases, as there are more authoritative sources, like school certificates, that are legally recognized for this purpose.
This decision will have broad implications for future motor accident compensation cases, ensuring that statutory documents hold precedence over Aadhaar for critical determinations such as the age of victims.
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