Allahabad High Court
Sadanand Verma And Another vs The Oriental Insurance Company ... on 16 March, 2021
Bench: Vivek Agarwal
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 1
Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 378 of 2020
Appellant :- Sadanand Verma And Another
Respondent :- The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. And 2 Others
Counsel for Appellant :- Satyendra Kumar Singh
Counsel for Respondent :- Harish Chandra Dwivedi,Ankur Mehrotra,Virendra Kumar Yadav
Hon'ble Vivek Agarwal,J.
1. Sri Satyendra Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the appellant. Sri Ankur Mehrotra, learned counsel for the respondent.
2. This appeal has been filed by the claimants being aggrieved of award dated 26.9.2018 passed by learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/Xth Additional District and Sessions Judge, Varanasi in M.A.C.P No. 204 of 2017 on the ground that claimants lost their young son in an accident which took place on 24.8.2017 and after accepting the factum of accident, Tribunal has arbitrarily awarded a sum of Rs. 1,50,000/- without even computing the fact that deceased was over 14 years of age and, therefore, appropriate multiplier of 18 should have been applied as has been laid down in Sarla Verma (Smt) and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another; (2009) 6 SCC 121. Notional income should have been computed after adding future prospects etc and compensation should have been awarded, but arbitrarily Tribunal has awarded a sum of Rs. 1,50,000/- which is grossly inadequate and demonstrate lack of appreciation of law and facts in the correct perspective.
3. It is submitted that learned Tribunal has referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court in case of Kishan Gopal and others Vs. Lala and others; 2013 (4) ACCD 2164 (C), where a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs was awarded by the Supreme Court yet arbitrarily without distinguishing such judgment and holding that there was no income of the deceased at the time of the accident, has awarded a sum of Rs. 1,50,000/- which reflects gross insensitivity of the learned Tribunal to deal with the matters pertaining to motor accident claims.
4. Sri Ankur Mehrotra, submits that learned Tribunal followed the judgment of the Supreme Court in case of Puttamma and others Vs. K.L. Narayana Reddy and another; 2014 (2) ACCD 573.
5. The fact of the matter is that now law in regard to computation of compensation and its payment has been crystalized by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in case of National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Pranay Sethi and others as reported in (2017) 16 Supreme Court Cases 680. Accordingly multiplier of 18 has been prescribe for a person falling in the age bracket of 15-20 years. Notional income of the deceased for an accident which took place on 24.8.2017 can be construed at Rs. 6000/- per month or Rs. 72000/- per annum. As the deceased was bachelor, 50% is to be deducted towards living expenses of the deceased. Therefore, remainder will come to Rs. 36,000/-. 40% is to be added towards future prospects taking total annual dependency to Rs. 50400/-.When multiplier of 18 is applied then pecuniary compensation will come to Rs. 907200/-. Over and above, which claimants are entitled to a sum of Rs. 30,000/- under the head of non pecuniary compensation and sum of Rs. 30,000/- is to be added towards total pecuniary compensation to Rs. 9,67,200/- (Rupees Nine Lakhs sixty seven thousands and two hundred only) to which claimant will be entitled as against Rs. 1,50,000/- awarded by the learned Claims Tribunal. Thus there will be an addition of Rs. 8,17,200/-- (Rupees Eight lakhs seventy thousands and two hundred only) to which claimant will be entitled. This additional amount will also carry interest at the rate of 7% from the date of filing of the claim petition.
6. In above terms, the appeal is disposed of.
Order Date :- 16.3.2021
S.K.S.
