India, July 2 -- In a significant verdict aimed at bringing uniformity to motor accident compensation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down guidelines on how courts should determine the annual income of deceased victims or injured claimants on the basis of Income Tax Returns.

The top court held for salaried individuals, only the Income Tax Return (ITR) of the previous year will be sufficient for showcasing the annual income and for self-employed persons, it held that the average income disclosed in ITRs for up to the previous three years should ordinarily serve as the reference point.

A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh held that there cannot be a rigid formula for computing annual income under the Motor Vehicles A...