Rajasthan High Court
Laxmi Kanwar Wife Of Late Ranveer Singh vs Durga Lal Son Of Dhanna Lal Gurjar on 27 March, 2024
Author: Narendra Singh Dhaddha
Bench: Narendra Singh Dhaddha
[2024:RJ-JP:14658]
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
BENCH AT JAIPUR
S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 2083/2022
1. Laxmi Kanwar Wife Of Late Ranveer Singh, Aged About
43 Years, Resident Of Bhinay, Tehsil Bhinay, District
Ajmer.
2. Tejasvni Rathore D/o Late Ranveer Singh, Aged About 22
Years, Resident Of Bhinay, Tehsil Bhinay, District Ajmer.
3. Mohit Singh Rathore S/o Late Ranveer Singh, Aged About
20 Years, Resident Of Bhinay, Tehsil Bhinay, District
Ajmer.
4. Nandini Rathore D/o Late Ranveer Singh, Aged About 18
Years, Resident Of Bhinay, Tehsil Bhinay, District Ajmer.
5. Mitthan Lal Son Of Kalyan Mal, Aged About 67 Years,
Resident Of Bhinay, Tehsil Bhinay, District Ajmer.
6. Badam Kanwar Wife Of Mitthan Lal, Aged About 65 Years,
Resident Of Bhinay, Tehsil Bhinay, District Ajmer.
----Appellants
Versus
1. Durga Lal Son Of Dhanna Lal Gurjar, Resident Of Badhali
Kheda, Post Suwana, District Bhilwara (Driver Hyundai
Car No. Rj-06-Cc-1364)
2. Vijay Soni Son Of Govindram Soni, Resident Of A-519/5,
Adarsh Nagar, Kota Road, Bhilwara, District Bhilwara
(Owner Hyundai Car No. Rj-06-Cc-1364)
3. Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Having Its Division
Office At Ganesh Bhawan, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Ajmer
Having Its Regional Office At Nbcc Centre, Sahkar Road,
Jaipur Through Its Regional Manager (Insurer Hyundai
Car No. Rj-06-Cc-1364)
----Respondents
Connected With S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 1438/2022 The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd., Through Its Manager, Divisional Office, Ganesh Bhawan, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Ajmer (Raj.) Having Its Regional Office At Jaipur (Raj.).
----Appellant Versus (Downloaded on 02/04/2024 at 08:38:31 PM) [2024:RJ-JP:14658] (2 of 5) [CMA-2083/2022]
1. Smt. Laxmi Kanwar W/o Late Sh. Ranveer Singh, Aged About 43 Years, Resident Of Bhinai, Tehsil- Bhinai, District-Ajmer (Raj.)
2. Tejaswini Rathor D/o Late Sh. Ranveer Singh, Aged About 22 Years, Resident Of Bhinai, Tehsil- Bhinai, District- Ajmer (Raj.)
3. Mohit Singh Rathor S/o Late Sh. Ranveer Singh, Aged About 20 Years, Resident Of Bhinai, Tehsil- Bhinai, District-Ajmer (Raj.)
4. Nandini Rathor D/o Late Sh. Ranveer Singh, Aged About 18 Years, Resident Of Bhinai, Tehsil- Bhinai, District- Ajmer (Raj.)
5. Mitthanlal S/o Sh. Kalyanmal, Aged About 67 Years, Resident Of Bhinai, Tehsil- Bhinai, District-Ajmer (Raj.)
6. Smt. Badam Kanwar W/o Sh. Mitthanlal, Aged About 65 Years, Resident Of Bhinai, Tehsil- Bhinai, District-Ajmer (Raj.)
7. Durga Lal S/o Sh. Dhannalal Gurjar, R/o Bhadalikheda, Post-Suwana, District Bhilwara (Raj.). (Driver Of Vehicle).
8. Vijay Soni S/o Sh. Govind Ram Soni, R/o A-519/5, Adarsh Nagar, Kota Road, Bhilwara, District Bhilwara (Raj.).
----Respondents For Appellant(s) : Mr. Vinay Mathur, Adv. for claimants For Respondent(s) : Mr. Ajay Kumar Tanenia, Adv. for Insurance Company HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NARENDRA SINGH DHADDHA Judgment DATE OF JUDGMENT 27/03/2024 The instant appeals have arisen out of the judgment and award dated 25.02.2022 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal No.1, Kekari, Ajmer (for short 'the Tribunal') in Claim Case No.49/2017 titled as "Smt. Laxmi Kanwar & Ors. Vs. Durga Lal & Ors.", whereby the Tribunal while partly allowing the claim (Downloaded on 02/04/2024 at 08:38:31 PM) [2024:RJ-JP:14658] (3 of 5) [CMA-2083/2022] petition, has awarded a sum of Rs.35,76,344/- along with interest @ 6.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition as compensation in favour of the claimants.
CMA No.2083/2022 has been filed by the claimants seeking enhancement of compensation awarded by the Tribunal, whereas CMA No.1438/2022 has been filed by the Insurance Company challenging the judgment & award passed by the Tribunal on the various grounds.
S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 2083/2022:-Learned counsel for the claimants submits that the Tribunal had committed an error in assessing the income of the deceased as Rs.2,67,150/- per annum. As per Income Tax Return (Ex.33), the deceased's gross income was Rs.2,91,653/- per annum. So, income of the deceased be calculated as Rs.2,91,653/- per annum. Learned counsel for the claimants also submits that the Tribunal had committed error in granting lump sum amount of Rs.40,000/- towards loss of consortium and love and affection, whereas it should be Rs.40,000/- for each claimant. So, judgment and award of the Tribunal be modified accordingly. S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 1438/2022:-Learned counsel for the Insurance Company submits that the Tribunal wrongly considered the income of the deceased as Rs.2,67,150/-, which is on higher side because claimants had not submitted any bank accounts details etc. regarding the income of the deceased. So, income of the deceased be calculated on the basis of minimum wages prevalent at the relevant point of time. So, judgment and award of the Tribunal be modified accordingly. (Downloaded on 02/04/2024 at 08:38:31 PM) [2024:RJ-JP:14658] (4 of 5) [CMA-2083/2022] I have considered the arguments advanced by learned counsel for the claimants as well as learned counsel for the Insurance Company.
It is an admitted position that the claimants during the evidence exhibited the Income Tax Return of the deceased as Ex.33 according to which the gross total income of the deceased was Rs.2,91,653/- in the relevant assessment year. The Tribunal had committed an error in assessing the income of the deceased after deduction. So, in my considered opinion, the Tribunal had to assess the gross income of the deceased as Rs.2,91,653/-. The Tribunal also committed error in granting lump sum amount of Rs.40,000/- towards loss of consortium and love and affection, whereas it should be Rs.40,000/- for each claimant. So, the judgment of the Tribunal is modified to the extent as under:-
Annual Income Rs.2,91,653/-
According to the age of the Rs.2,91,653/- X 14 =
deceased i.e. 43 years, 40,83,142/-
Multiplier of 14 shall be applied
Since, the deceased had 6 40,83,142/ X1/4=10,20,785.5/-
dependents, 1/4 is to be (round off 10,20,786/-)
deducted for personal expenses (40,83,142 - 10,20,786 of the deceased =30,62,356/-
add 25% towards future 30,62,356X 25%=7,65,589/-
prospects (30,62,356+7,65,589 =
38,27,945/-)
Loss of consortium and love and Rs.2,40,000/-
affection to claimants No. 1 to 6
(40,000 X 6)
Funeral expenses (+)
Rs.15,000/-
Loss of Estate
Rs.15,000/-
Total
Rs.40,97,945/-
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[2024:RJ-JP:14658] (5 of 5) [CMA-2083/2022]
Less amount awarded by the
Tribunal Rs.35,76,344/-
Enhanced Amount of
compensation Rs.40,97,945 - Rs.35,76,344/-
= Rs.5,21,601/-
The claimants are entitled to get a further sum of
Rs.5,21,601/- as compensation. The Insurance Company is directed to deposit enhanced amount of Rs.5,21,601/- (Rs.40,97,945 - Rs.35,76,344/-) with the Tribunal within a period of two months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order. On deposition of the said amount, the claimants shall be entitled to withdraw the same. The enhanced amount shall carry @ 6.5% interest per annum from the date of filing of claim petition till the actual payment is made.
In the result, appeal filed by the Insurance Company is dismissed, whereas, appeal filed by the claimants is partly allowed.
Rest part of the impugned judgment shall remain unchanged. Impugned judgment and award is modified accordingly.
Pending application(s), if any, also stand(s) disposed of.
(NARENDRA SINGH DHADDHA),J Jatin /141-142 (Downloaded on 02/04/2024 at 08:38:31 PM) Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)