Telangana High Court
Bittu Nagamani And 4 Ors, Nalgonda ... vs K. Subba Raju And Anr, Hyderabad on 16 July, 2024
THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURENDER
M.A.C.M.A No.333 of 2010
JUDGMENT:
This appeal is filed by the claimants aggrieved by the order and decree dated 18.09.2009 passed by the learned III Additional District Judge (FTC), Nalgonda (for short, 'the trial Court') in O.P.No.955 of 2004, seeking enhancement of compensation granted by the trial Court. The claimants are aggrieved by the meagre compensation granted by the trial Court.
2. Heard learned counsel appearing on either side and perused the material available on record.
3. The accident of the deceased had taken place on 08.08.2004 while he was driving a Hero Honda Motor Cycle. The offending vehicle which is 14 tyres lorry came in a high speed and driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner, dashed against the motor cycle causing grievous and multiple injuries to the deceased all over the body and he died on the spot.
4. The manner in which the accident had taken place and the liability are not disputed by the Counsel on both 2 sides.
5. The grounds raised by the learned counsel appearing for the claimants is that the trial Court has not considered granting of 40% future prospects, as per the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Pranay Sethi 1, the consortium has also to be awarded and further the multiplier applied by the trial Court is not appropriate.
6. Insofar as the deduction towards personal and living expenses is concerned, the deceased was married and survived by wife and his two children. Therefore, the total dependents are three (03) in number. As per the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma and Others v. Delhi Transport Corporation and another 2, the standard deduction towards personal and living expenses of the deceased should be one-third.
7. With regard to the multiplier, as per the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarala Verma (1 Supra), the appropriate multiplier is '16' as the deceased age fell under the age group of 31 to 35 as on the date of accident.
8. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Anjali and others v. 1 2017(6) ALD 170 (SC) 2 (2009) 6 SCC 121 3 Lokendra Rathod and others 3, decided on 06.12.2022, taking into consideration the decision of Sarla Verma (supra) and also the case of Pranay sethi (supra) and also taking into consideration the rise in expenditure and cost of living, has awarded a sum of Rs.44,000/- towards loss of consortium.
9. In view of the above discussion, the compensation amount is enhanced as under:
Sl.No. Head Compensation awarded 1 Income Rs.3,000/- per month (Rs.36,000/- per annum) 2 Future prospects Rs.14,400/-
(40% of income) 3 Total income Rs.50,400/-
4 Deduction towards Rs.16,800/-
personal expenses (i.e., 1/3 of total income ) 5 Net Income Rs.33,600/-
(i.e.,Rs.50,400/-(-) Rs.16,800/-) 6 Multiplier 16 7 Loss Rs.5,37,600/-
of dependency (i.e., Rs.33,600/- x 16) 8 Consortium Rs.1,32,000/-
(Rs.44,000/- x 3) 9 Funeral expenses Rs.15,000/-
10 Loss of estate Rs.15,000/-
Total Rs.6,99,600/-
compensation
to be paid:
3 2023 (1) ALD 107 (SC)
4
10. At this stage, learned Standing Counsel for the Insurance Company submits that the claimants claimed only a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- as compensation and the quantum of compensation, which is now awarded, would go beyond the claim made which is impermissible under law.
11. In view of the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Laxman @ Laxman Mourya v. Divisional Manager, Oriental Insurance Company Limited and another 4 and Narappa v. Gurudayal Singh 5 the claimants if entitled to get more amount than what they have claimed, such compensation amount can be granted. Further, Motor Vehicles Act, being a beneficial piece of legislation, the interest of the claimants shall be given paramount consideration and the Courts should always endeavor to extend just and reasonable benefit to the claimants.
12. In the result, the Motor Accident Civil Miscellaneous Appeal filed by the claimants is allowed, enhancing the compensation amount awarded by the trial Court from Rs.2,11,000/- to Rs.6,99,600/- as hereunder:
(a) The enhanced amount shall carry interest at the 4 (2011) 10 SCC 756 5 2003 ACJ 12 (SC) 5 rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of petition till the date of realization.
(b) The insurance company shall deposit the compensation amount within a period of eight (8) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of judgment. On such deposit, the claimants are permitted to withdraw their proportionate shares without furnishing any security, after depositing the deficit Court-fee. The rest of the impugned Order holds good. There shall be no order as to costs.
Pending miscellaneous petitions, if any, shall stand closed.
________________________ JUSTICE K.SURENDER Date: 16.07.2024 vsu