1 FA802.17(J)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
FIRST APPEAL NO.802 of 2017
1. Smt. Jayashri wd/o Sanjay Pode,
Aged about 39 years, Occ. Household.
2. Sarang s/o Sanjay Pode,
Aged about18 years, Occ. Student.
3. Nanaji s/o Kashinath Pode,
Aged about 76 years, Occ-Retired.
4. Sau. Nirmala w/o Nanaji Pode,
Aged about 70 years, Occ. Household. ........APPELLANTS
All R/o Nanaji Nagar, Nagpur Road,
Chandrapur, Tahsil and District Chandrapur.
--Versus ---
1. Sudhir s/o Ramdas Totare,
Aged-Major, Occ. Business.
R/o. Chakan, Ekta Nagar, Tah. Khed,
District Pune.
2. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd.
Through its Manager,
Akbar Villa, Nagpur Road, Near Hotel Siddharth,
Opp. Police Headquarters,
Chandrapur-04
3. Radheshyam s/o Maroti Ubale (Deleted) .. RESPONDENTS
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Shri Rohit Joshi, Advocate for Appellants.
Shri R.D.Bhuibhar, Advocate for R.No.2.
None appears for respondent no.1 though duly served.
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2 FA802.17(J)
CORAM : S.B.SHUKRE,J.
DATED : 19.09.2017 ORAL JUDGMENT This appeal is preferred against the finding recorded by the trial Court that from the amount of income earned by deceased immediately before his death, deduction made on account of payment of Insurance Premium to the extent of Rs.1,00,000/- is permissible, recorded by the Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Chandrapur, in the judgment and order dated 03.03.2017 rendered in M.A.C.P.No.49/2013.
2. I have heard Shri Rohit Joshi, learned counsel for the appellants and Shri R.D.Bhuibhar, learned counsel for respondent no.2. None appears for respondent no.1 though duly served with the notice on merits. I have gone thourgh the impugned award and the set of documents filed by the appellants vide Pursis dated 14.09.2017. The only point that arises for my determination is :
whether the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper in view of the impugned finding ?
3. According to Shri Rohit Joshi, learned counsel for the
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3 FA802.17(J)
appellants, compensation awarded by the tribunal is not just and proper as the basis of the annual income considered by the tribunal is erroneous. On the other hand, Shri Bhuibhar, learned counsel appearing for respondent no.2 submits that there is a justification properly given in the impugned award in that regard and, therefore, no interference in the impugned award is warranted.
4. It is seen from the impugned award that while determining the income of the deceased, tribunal deducted an amount of Rs.1,00,000/- from the gross amount which not permissible as per the law stated by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Manaswi Jain vs. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2014 ACYD 550 on which reliance has been placed by the tribunal. The annual income tax returns filed by the deceased for the year 2011-12, which was the last one before his death, his gross total income was shown as Rs.3,15,919/- and from this income, an amount of Rs.1,00,000/- was deducted under Section 80 C of the Income Tax Act. The tribunal considered this deduction as a statutory deduction on account of the liability of the deceased, albeit erroneously. In fact, this deduction was not on account of liability of the deceased, but only his savings. The tribunal ::: Uploaded on - 21/09/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 22/09/2017 01:35:44 ::: 4 FA802.17(J) has erred in deducting this amount from the gross total income of the deceased. Therefore, I find that there is a great substance in the argument of the learned counsel for the appellants and no merit in the argument of the learned counsel for the respondent no.2 that this deduction of Rs.1,00,000/- was, in fact, proper in law.
5. In view of above, I am of the opinion that the annual income of the deceased was of Rs.3,15,919/- and from this income, the income tax paid by deceased Rs.5,760/- at the most was deductible and if it is deducted, the annual income of the deceased immediately before his death would come Rs.3,10,159/-. So, it is this income which would have to be taken as a starting point for making further calculations in the matter in order to arrive at the amount of compensation payable to the appellants in a just and fair manner. Doing so, the final amount of compensation payable to the appellant could be determined in the following manner :
1. Annual Income Rs. 3,10,160 (-) 1/4th deduction.
2. Towards self consumption Rs.77,540/-
3. Loss of Dependency Rs. 2,32,620/-
4. Rs.2,32,620 x 13(Multiplier) = Rs.30,24,060/-
5. 30% component towards Future Prospects Rs.9,07,218/-
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6. Total Loss of dependency.
(A) Rs.39,31,278/-
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5 FA802.17(J)
6. In addition to the compensation determined under the head of loss of dependency, the appellants would also be entitled to receive compensation under non-pecuniary heads. The tribunal has determined the compensation payable to the appellants under this head, which I find to be just and proper, warranting no interference with the same. The compensation payable under all these non pecuniary heads would be in addition to Rs.39,31,278/- found to be payable under the head of loss of dependency. The tribunal has also granted interest @ 9% per annum from the date of application till realization on the final amount of compensation. The compensation under the non-pecuniary heads, as rightly determined by the tribunal, would be as under :
(B) Non-pecuniary heads :
1. Loss of consortium to the claimant no.1 Rs. 50,000/-
2. Loss of love to claimant no.2. Rs. 50,000/-
3. Loss of love and affection to claimants Rs. 60,000/-
Nos. 3 and 4 @ Rs.30,000/-
4. Funeral and Transportation Expenses. Rs. 25,000/-
5. Loss of estate to appellants 2,3 and 4 Rs. 75,000/-
@ Rs.25,000/- ----------------
Total B ... Rs.2,60,000/-
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TOTAL AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION UNDER
ALL THE HEADS. (A + B ) = Rs.41,91,278/-
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6 FA802.17(J)
7. The total amount of compensation, as calculated above, comes to Rs.41,91,278/- and it shall be payable to the appellants jointly and severally by respondent nos. 1 and 2 with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of petition till actual realization. The point is answered accordingly. The impugned judgment and order stand modified in the above terms. The appeal stands allowed in the above terms. The parties to bear their own costs.
The appellants to pay Court Fees on the enhanced amount of compensation within one month from the date of order.
(S.B.SHUKRE, J) Andurkar ::: Uploaded on - 21/09/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 22/09/2017 01:35:44 :::