Gujarat High Court
Rampritamdas Safuldas Tati vs Ibrahimbhai Satarbhai Saya Bharwada on 17 April, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/FA/996/2025 ORDER DATED: 17/04/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 996 of 2025
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RAMPRITAMDAS SAFULDAS TATI & ORS.
Versus
IBRAHIMBHAI SATARBHAI SAYA BHARWADA & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR. HEMAL SHAH(6960) for the Appellant(s) No. 1,2,3
MR YOGI K GADHIA(5913) for the Defendant(s) No. 2
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN M. DESAI
Date : 17/04/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. The present First Appeal is filed by the appellants-original claimants against the judgment and award dated 27.10.2023 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Main), Rajkot in MACP No.1181 of 2015, wherein the learned Tribunal has partly allowed the claim petition against opponent Nos.1 and 2 dismissed against opponent No.3.
2. Heard learned advocate Mr.Hemal Shah for the appellants and learned advocate Mr.Yogi Gadhia for respondent No.2.
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3. Admit. Learned advocate Mr.Gadhia waives service of notice of admission for and on behalf of respondent No.2 forthwith.
4. Upon joint request of learned advocates for the respective parties, the matter is taken up for final hearing.
5. Brief facts of the case are as under:
5.1 On 26.03.2015, at about 3.00 p.m., deceased was travelling in tractor bearing registration No.GJ-TU-
8423, driver of the said tractor was driving on correct side of the road, at that time, a truck bearing registration No.GJ-03-W-8188 came from opposite direction with full speed in rash and negligent manner and dashed with tractor. As a result, tractor turned turtle and deceased sustained serious injuries and succumbed on the spot. FIR was lodged against the driver of truck before Umrala Police Station. Chargesheet is also filed against the driver Page 2 of 10 Uploaded by MANOJ KUMAR(HC01092) on Fri May 09 2025 Downloaded on : Sat May 10 02:58:46 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/996/2025 ORDER DATED: 17/04/2025 undefined of truck.
5.2 The legal heirs of deceased filed a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act claiming compensation of Rs.15,00,000/-. Opponent Nos.1 and 3 - owner of truck and tractor respectively though served but did not contest the clam petition. Opponent No.2- Insurance Company of truck No.GJ-03-W-8188 appeared and filed Written Statement at Ex.13. Applicant No.2 examined at Ex.31 and produced documentary evidence such as FIR, Panchnama, Inquest panchnama, Postmortem report, Chargesheet and other relevant documents in support of the claim petition. After considering the evidence, learned Tribunal partly allowed the claim petition against opponent No.1 and 2 and directed them jointly and severally to pay compensation of Rs.6,24,928/- with 9% interest per annum from the date of petition till realization. Learned Tribunal rejected the claim petition against opponent No.3.
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NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/996/2025 ORDER DATED: 17/04/2025 undefined 5.3 Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and award, appellants - original claimants are before this Court for enhancement of compensation.
6. Learned advocate for the appellants has submit- ted that on the date of accident, deceased was travelling in tractor as a labourer and was earning Rs.8,000/- per month. However, due to sole negligence of the driver of truck, who was driving truck at an excessive speed dashed with the tractor, as a result, accident occurred. Resultantly, deceased succumbed on the spot due to injuries. FIR was also lodged against the driver of truck and subsequently the said driver was chargesheeted. 6.1 It is further submitted that, at the time of acci- dent, deceased was aged about 24 years and was earning Rs.8,000/- per month. Learned Tribunal, in absence of co- gent and convincing reason with regard to the income of Page 4 of 10 Uploaded by MANOJ KUMAR(HC01092) on Fri May 09 2025 Downloaded on : Sat May 10 02:58:46 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/996/2025 ORDER DATED: 17/04/2025 undefined deceased, assessed income at Rs.2500/- per month. It is submitted that in catena of decisions, law is settled that, in absence of direct evidence on income, the rates of minimum wages prevailing at the time of accident is to be considered. On the date of accident, the rates of minimum wages was Rs.7,000/- per month for unskilled labour. 6.2 It is further submitted that while awarding compensation under the head of funeral expenses, loss of estate and loss of consortium, learned Tribunal has ignored the settled proposition of law and awarded lesser amount of compensation. Except the above, no other submissions are canvassed by learned advocate for the appellants.
7. Per contra, learned advocate for respondent No.2
- Insurance Company has supported the impugned judgment and award and submitted that, though the claimants stated that the deceased was doing labour work on a tractor and was earning Rs.8,000/- per month, no Page 5 of 10 Uploaded by MANOJ KUMAR(HC01092) on Fri May 09 2025 Downloaded on : Sat May 10 02:58:46 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/996/2025 ORDER DATED: 17/04/2025 undefined convincing evidence is placed on record. Therefore, learned Tribunal has rightly assessed the income of deceased at Rs.2,500/- per month. There is no other reason to disturb the findings of fact. No other submissions are made by learned advocate for respondent.
8. I have considered submissions canvassed by learned advocates for the respective parties and perused the materials available on record. It appears that, there is no dispute that on the date of accident deceased was travelling in a tractor and due to the rash and negligent driving of driver of truck, accident has occurred. The Insurance Company has not challenged the findings of the learned Tribunal and therefore has attained its finality. The only issue involved in the present appeal is with regard to assessment of income of deceased in absence of documentary evidence. In catena of decisions, law is settled that in such cases rates of minimum wage Page 6 of 10 Uploaded by MANOJ KUMAR(HC01092) on Fri May 09 2025 Downloaded on : Sat May 10 02:58:46 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/996/2025 ORDER DATED: 17/04/2025 undefined prevailing at the time of accident, is required to be considered. In the present case, date of accident is 26.03.2015 and on that date, the rates of minimum wage for unskilled labour was Rs.7000/- per month. Accordingly, the income of deceased is assessed Rs.7,000/- per month.
9. As per the decision of National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Pranay Sethi & Ors. reported in (2017) 17 SCC 680, claimants are entitled to compensation of Rs.18,150/- under the head of funeral expenses and Rs.18150/- towards loss of estate and Rs.96,800/- (Rs.48,400 x 2) under the head of loss consortium. I have been informed during course of submissions that original claimant No.1 had died during the pendency of claim petition and the only surviving claimants are claimant Nos.2 and 3. Undisputedly, deceased was aged about 22 years at the time of accident. Therefore, in view of settled law, multiplier of 18 would be applicable. Page 7 of 10 Uploaded by MANOJ KUMAR(HC01092) on Fri May 09 2025 Downloaded on : Sat May 10 02:58:46 IST 2025
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10. In view of the aforesaid discussions, appellants - original claimants are entitled to following amount of compensation:
Under the Head of Compensation of Rs.
Future loss of income
Monthly income = Rs. 7,000/-
Prospective income 40%
(Rs.7,000 + 40%) = Rs. 9,800/-
Deduction 1/3
(Rs.9800 x 1/3 ) = Rs. 3,267/-
Total Income
[Rs.9,800-Rs.3,267/-]=Rs. 6,533/-
14,11,128/-
(Rs.6533 x 12 x 18) =Rs.14,11,128/-
Loss of estate 18,150/-
Loss of consortium 96,800/-
(Rs.48,400 x 2 = Rs.96,800/-)
Funeral expenses 18,150/-
Grand Total 15,44,228/-
Less awarded amount of 6,24,928/-
compensation by Tribunal
Enhanced amount 9,19,300/-
(Rs.15,44,228 - Rs.6,24,928/-)=
Interest @7.5%
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NEUTRAL CITATION
C/FA/996/2025 ORDER DATED: 17/04/2025
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11. The claimants are entitled to enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.9,19,300/- @ 7.5% per annum from the date of claim petition till realization from Insurance Company.
12. The Insurance Company is directed to deposit enhanced amount of compensation with interest as above within a period of Six Weeks from the date of receipt of this order. Upon such deposit, it will be open to the appellants to approach the learned Tribunal for appropriate orders for withdrawal. The learned Tribunal shall disburse the same after proper identification and verification following due procedure.
13. While making the payment, learned Tribunal/Court shall deduct the Court Fess, if not paid, in accordance with prevailing Rule.
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14. Resultantly, the present First Appeal is partly allowed accordingly. The judgment and award dated 27.10.2023 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Main), Rajkot in MACP No.1181 of 2015, is modified to the aforesaid extent.
15. Record and proceedings, if any, received, be sent back to the concerned Court/Tribunal.
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