Allahabad High Court
Smt. Bala Devi And Others vs Jagdish Yadav And Another on 28 April, 2025
Author: Vipin Chandra Dixit
Bench: Vipin Chandra Dixit
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:65752
Court No. - 48
Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 1442 of 2003
Appellant :- Smt. Bala Devi And Others
Respondent :- Jagdish Yadav And Another
Counsel for Appellant :- Rajesh Chandra Gupta,Nigamendra Shukla
Counsel for Respondent :- Krishna Shanker Chaudhary
Hon'ble Vipin Chandra Dixit,J.
List has been revised.
Heard Sri Nigamendra Shukla, learned counsel for the appellants and Sri Krishna Shanker Chaudhary, learned counsel for the Insurance Company-respondent no.4. No one is present on behalf of respondent nos. 1 to 3.
This first appeal from order has been filed under Section 173 of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 on behalf of the claimants-appellants for enhancement of compensation against the judgment dated 25.2.2003 passed by Additional District and Sessions Judge/Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bulandshahar in M.A.C.P. No. 193 of 1998 (Smt. Bala Devi and others vs. Jagdish Yadav and others) by which compensation of Rs.2,02,000/- along-with 9% interest has been awarded to the claimants-appellants.
It is submitted by learned counsel for the appellant that accident was occurred on 24.05.1998, in which the husband of appellant no. 1 and father of appellant nos. 2 to 5 namely Jagdish died on account of injuries received in the accident. The age of the deceased was 40 years at the time of accident. The Claim Tribunal has erred in awarding a very meager amount of compensation in favour of claimants-appellants. It is further submitted that claimants-appellants have fully proved the income of the deceased as Rs. 40,000/-p.m and Claims Tribunal has erred in accepting only Rs. 1500/-p.m. as monthly income of the deceased. It is further submitted that nothing has been awarded towards future prospects and Rs. 10,000/- was awarded for non pecuniary damages, where as the claimants-appellants are entitled for 25% future prospects and Rs. 70,000/- for non pecuniary damages in view of law laid down by Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of National Insurance Company Ltd. vs. Pranay Sethi reported in 2017(4) T.A.C. 673. Lastly, it is submitted that Claims Tribunal has also erred in deducting 1/3rd amount on account of personal expenses of the deceased, whereas there are five dependent of the deceased and as such, deduction would be 1/4th in view of law laid down by Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma vs. Delhi Road Transport Corporation reported in 2009(2) TAC 677 (S.C.).
On the other hand, learned counsel for Insurance Company-opposite party has not disputed the aforesaid legal grounds as argued by learned counsel for the appellants. He submits that claimant-appellant has failed to prove the income of the deceased by producing cogent evidence and Claims Tribunal has rightly assessed the monthly income as Rs. 1500/- p.m. Learned counsel for Insurance Company-opposite party has also not disputed that the claimants-appellants are entitled for 25% future prospects and Rs. 70,000/- for non pecuniary damages. Lastly, it is submitted that the age of the decease was 40 years, the multiplier of 15 is applicable and Claims Tribunal has erred in applying the multiplier of 16.
Considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
As per the claim petition, the deceased had earned Rs. 40,000/-p.m. The Claims Tribunal while deciding issue no. 4 has recorded the finding that the claimants-appellants have failed to prove the monthly income of the deceased by producing cogent evidence. No documentary or authentic evidence has been adduced on behalf of the claimants-appellants to prove the income of the deceased. The learned counsel for the appellants has relied upon the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Laxmidhar Nayak and Ors. Vs. Jugal Kishore Behera and Ors., reported in 2017 0 Supreme (SC) 1284, in which notional income of Rs. 3000/- was accepted by the Hon'ble Apex Court for the accident of 1991. In the present case, the accident was occurred in year 1998 and as such the notional income of the deceased is accepted as Rs. 3000/- p.m. The Claims Tribunal had deducted 1/3rd towards personal expenses whereas the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (supra) has provided deduction of 1/4th, if number of dependents are 4 to 6. In the present case, there are 5 dependents on the income of the deceased, the deduction would 1/4th. The claimants-appellants are also entitled for 25% future prospects and Rs. 70,000/- for non pecuniary damages in view of law laid down by Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Pranay Shetty (supra). The Hon'ble Apex Court has provided multiplier of 15 for the age group 36 to 40 years and as such appropriate multiplier of 15 is applicable in this case.
In view of the above, the compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal is reassessed as below:-
1) Monthly income = Rs.3,000/-
2) Annual income = Rs. 3000/- X 12= Rs.36,000/-
3) Future prospects (25%) = Rs.9,000/-
4) Total annual income = Rs.36,000/- + Rs.9,000/- =Rs.45,000/-
5) Deduction towards personal expenses(1/4th) = Rs.45,000/- - Rs.11,250/ = Rs.33,750/-
6) Multiplier applicable (15) =Rs.33,750/- x 15 = Rs.5 ,06,000/-
7) Non-pecuniary damages =Rs.70,000/-
Total = Rs.5,06,000/- + Rs.70,000/- = Rs.5,76,000/-
In view of aforesaid discussion, the appeal filed by claimants is hereby partly allowed and award of the Claims Tribunal is modified and compensation is enhanced from Rs.2,02,000/- to Rs.5,76,000/-. The claimants-appellants are also entitled for interest at the rate of 6% from the date of Judgment of Claims Tribunal i.e. 25.02.2003.
The National Insurance Company Limited/opposite party is directed to deposit the enhanced amount of Rs.3,74,250/- along with interest at the rate of 6% from the date of award of Claims Tribunal i.e. 25.2.2003, within two months from today before the concerned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. The claimants are entitled to withdraw the entire deposited amount without furnishing any surety.
No order as to costs.
Order Date :- 28.4.2025
PS
