MUMBAI, March 23 -- In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court has held that both the parents and parents-in-law of a married woman can claim compensation for her death in a road accident, as both can be considered dependents under the Motor Vehicles Act. A single-judge bench of justice RM Joshi passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by Naigaon residents Masilamani Chettiar and his wife. They had challenged a March 12, 2025 order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), which awarded Rs.1.19 crore compensation only to John Philip Rodrigues and his wife Perpetua John Rodrigues, parents of their daughter-in-law Luiza died in an accident. The case relates to a July 1, 2021 accident near Khopoli. Luiza Chettiar was travelling from Pune to Mumbai with her husband Joaquim Chettiar and their son when a trailer truck hit multiple vehicles. As their car flipped over, all three were seriously injured and later declared dead at a government hospital in Khopoli. The Chettiars said the tribunal wrongly excluded them from compensation, arguing they should be recognised as dependents of their daughter-in-law. The deceased woman's parents opposed the claim, stating that parents-in-law are not legal heirs and had already received compensation for the deaths of their son and grandson, along with his service benefits. The high court, however, agreed with the parents-in-law. Justice Joshi noted that Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act allows "legal representatives" to seek compensation, and courts have interpreted the term broadly to include dependents, not just immediate family members. The court noted that although the term "legal representatives" is not defined in the Act, the Supreme Court, in a 2022 case, held that the term should be given a wider meaning to include dependents, not being confined only to the spouse, parents and children of the deceased. Justice Joshi said that in our society even after marriage a daughter takes care of her parents as well as her parents-in-law. Therefore, both sets of parents must be considered dependents under the MV Act. The court ruled that the parents-in-law cannot be denied compensation solely because they had already received money for the deaths of their son and grandson. Instead, such factors should be considered while dividing the compensation. "What tribunal would have done is to consider the said fact (considering the compensation) while deciding apportionment of the amount," the court said. The court directed that the parents-in-law be given a one-third share of the compensation awarded to the deceased woman's parents....