Allahabad High Court
Luxmi Devi And 3 Others vs National Insurance Co. Ltd. And 3 ... on 16 March, 2021
Bench: Vivek Agarwal
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 1
Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 153 of 2021
Appellant :- Luxmi Devi And 3 Others
Respondent :- National Insurance Co. Ltd. And 3 Others
Counsel for Appellant :- Sharve Singh,Neerja Singh
Hon'ble Vivek Agarwal,J.
1. Sri Sharave Singh, learned counsel for the appellant. Sri Radheshyam for National Insurance Company Ltd.
2. This appeal has been filed by the claimants being aggrieved of award dated 28.10.2020 passed by Presiding Officer, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Etawah in MACP No. 272 of 2015 on two grounds namely that admittedly deceased was 35 years of age at the time of the accident yet Claims Tribunal has arbitrarily added only 10% towards future prospects whereas addition will be to the tune of 40% in the light of law laid down by Supreme Court in case of National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Pranay Sethi and others as reported in (2017) 16 Supreme Court Cases 680. It is also submitted that under the head of non pecuniary compensation only a sum of Rs. 60,000/- has been awarded which needs to be enhanced to Rs. 70,000/-.
3. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and going through the award, it is apparent that there is error apparent in the award. Learned Presiding Officer has not applied himself to the facts and circumstances of the case. Presiding Officer has also failed to take into consideration the law laid down by Supreme Court in Case of Pranay Sethi (Supra) though a reference has been made to the same. Tribunal has awarded only 10% toward future prospects though it has applied multiplier of 16 accepting the age of the deceased to be between 31-35 years. This clearly demonstrates that learned Tribunal has failed to read the judgment of the Supreme Court in case of Pranay Sethi (Supra) in totality and has arbitrarily computed future prospects at the rate of 10% though it is applicable for those persons who are in the age between 51-60 years and are self employed. Similarly, it has failed to appreciate the law in regard to payment of non pecuniary compensation and has arbitrarily awarded compensation of Rs. 60,000/- whereas it should have been 70,000/-.
4. Learned Tribunal has admitted income of the deceased to be 84,000/- per annum and has deducted 1/4th amount towards living expenses of the deceased as deceased is survived by 4 legal heirs i.e. wife and three children. It has arbitrarily added 10% towards future prospects whereas it should be 40% taking total annual dependency to Rs. 88200/. When multiplier of 16 is applied then total pecuniary compensation will come to Rs. 14,11,200/- (Rupees Forteen lakhs eleven thousand and two hundred only). Over and above, which claimants are entitled to a sum of Rs. 70,000/- under the head of non pecuniary compensation taking total compensation to Rs. 14,81,200/- (Rupees Forteen lakhs eighty one thousand and two hundred only) as against sum of Rs. 11,68,800/- awarded by the Claims Tribunal. Thus there will be addition to the tune of Rs. 3,12,400/- (Rupees Three lakhs twelve thousand four hundred only) which will also earn interest at the rate of 7% from the date of filing of the claim petition.
5. In above terms, the appeal is disposed of.
Order Date :- 16.3.2021
S.K.S.
