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*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ FAO No.180/1995
Date of Decision: 30th April, 2009
%
SAVITA ..... Appellant
Through : Mr. O.P. Mannie, Adv.
versus
GURNAM KAUR ..... Respondent
Through : Mr. Pradeep Gaur and
Mr. Dinesh Kumar Singh, Advs.
CORAM :-
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.R. MIDHA
1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may Yes
be allowed to see the Judgment?
2. To be referred to the Reporter or not? Yes
3. Whether the judgment should be Yes
reported in the Digest?
JUDGMENT (Oral)
1. The appellant has challenged the award of the learned Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.7,20,000/- has been awarded to the claimant. The claimant seeks enhancement of the award amount.
2. The accident dated 3rd May, 1994 resulted in the death of Anil Kumar Narula aged 38 years. The deceased left behind his widow, two minor children and father who filed the claim petition before the learned Tribunal. The learned Tribunal took the income of the deceased at Rs.78,000/- per annum. Rs.500/- per month was deducted towards the personal expenses of the deceased and the multiplier of 10 FAO No.180/1995 Page 1 of 3 was applied to compute the loss of dependency at Rs.7,20,000/-. No amount has been awarded towards loss of consortium, loss of estate and loss of love and affection.
3. The appellant has challenged the impugned award on two short grounds, i.e., the multiplier of 16 should be applied as per the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Act and non-pecuniary damages be awarded.
4. With respect to the multiplier, the deceased was aged 38 years and the appropriate multiplier as per the Second Schedule is 16. However, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the recent case of Sarla Verma vs. DTC has corrected the multiplier provided in Second Schedule and the appropriate multiplier at the age of 38 is 15. The multiplier in the present case is, therefore taken to be 15 instead of 10. Loss of dependency accordingly is computed at Rs.10,80,000/- [(78,000 - 500 x 12) x 15].
5. The learned Tribunal has not awarded any compensation for loss of consortium, loss of love, affection and loss of estate. The compensation of Rs.10,000/- is awarded for loss of consortium, Rs.10,000/- to each of the applicants for loss of love and affection and Rs.10,000/- for loss of estate. The total compensation of Rs.11,40,000/- (Rs.10,80,000 + Rs.10,000 + Rs.40,000 + Rs.10,000) is awarded to the appellant.
6. The appeal is allowed and the compensation is enhanced from Rs.7,20,000/- to Rs.11,40,000/-. The learned FAO No.180/1995 Page 2 of 3 Tribunal had awarded interest at the rate of 12% per annum which is not disturbed on the original award amount of Rs.7,20,000/-. However, on the enhanced amount, the rate of interest shall be 7.5% from the date of filing of the petition till payment in terms of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Dharampal vs. U.P. State Road Transport Corporation, III 2008 ACC (1) SC.
7. Respondent No.2 is directed to deposit the enhanced award amount along with interest thereon with the learned Tribunal within 30 days. The shares of the appellants shall be as under: -
Appellant No.1 : 70%
Appellant Nos.2 to 4 : 10% each
8. Upon such deposit being made, the learned Tribunal is directed to release 10% of the total amount to each of the appellants. With respect to the appellant No.1, 60% of the award amount along with interest thereon be kept in fixed deposit with nationalized bank for the period of 10 years on which periodical interest be paid to her but no loan, advance or withdrawal be permitted without prior permission of the learned Tribunal.
J.R. MIDHA, J APRIL 30, 2009 mk FAO No.180/1995 Page 3 of 3