Dnyaneshwar Govindrao Dafale And ... vs The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd Thr ...
2017 Latest Caselaw 2978 Bom

 fa539.06.J.odt                         1



       IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                 NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR

                      FIRST APPEAL NO.539 OF 2006

 1]       Dnyaneshwar s/o Govindrao Dafale,
          Aged about 53 years, Occ: Nil.

 2]       Ku. Sangita Dnyaneshwar Dafale,
          Aged about 19 years, Occ: Nil.

          Both R/o Bhidi, Tq. Deoli,
          District Wardha.                      ....... APPELLANTS

                                ...V E R S U S...

 1]       The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd.
          Through branch Manager, Branch at
          Yavatmal, Vishwas Buldg. Vir Wamanrao
          Chowk, Datey College Road, Yavatmal.

 2]      Jaswantsingh Bhagwansingh Oberoi,
         Aged about 60 years, Occ: Construction
         Company, R/o Parwa, 
         Tq. & Dist. Yavatmal.                   ....... RESPONDENTS
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Shri A.V. Bhide, Advocate for Appellants.
         None for Respondent.
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          CORAM:  SMT. DR. SHALINI PHANSALKAR-JOSHI, J.

th DATE: 8 JUNE, 2017.

ORAL JUDGMENT

1] This appeal takes an exception to the judgment

and award dated 07.04.2006 passed by the Motor Accident

Claims Tribunal, Wardha in Motor Accident Claim Petition

No.70/2004. By the impugned judgment and award, the

Tribunal has granted the amount of Rs.69,300/- as

compensation to the respondent Nos.1 and 3 along with

interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum.

2] The only issue raised for consideration in this

appeal is relating to the quantum of compensation. As regards

the factum of the deceased sustaining injuries in the vehicular

accident and the liability of the respondent No.1-the

insurance company and respondent No.2-the owner of the

offending tanker, it is not at all disputed, in view of the fact

that they have not filed any appeal challenging the award.

The appeal is filed by the original claimants contending inter

alia that the amount of compensation awarded by the

Tribunal is quite meager, which is only to the tune of

Rs.69,300/-.

3] On the perusal of the judgment of the Tribunal

and having regard to the legal position as enunciated in the

decisions of (i) Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation

reported in 2009 ACJ 1298 (SC) and (ii) Rajesh vs. Rajbir Singh

reported in 2013 ACJ 1403 (SC) in the considered opinion of this

Court, also the compensation amount as awarded by the Tribunal

is not only inadequate, but also too meager. It is accepted by

the Tribunal that the deceased was running the age of 27

years and was getting a income of Rs.1800/- per month.

As the deceased was unmarried, as per the settled position of

law it has to be held that he was spending 50% amount of his

income towards personal expenses and contributing 50%

towards the dependency of the appellant Nos.1 and 2.

Appellant No.1 is the father and appellant No.2, at the time

of incident, was an unmarried sister of the deceased.

The Tribunal has however deducted 2/3rd amount towards

personal expenses of the deceased, which cannot be upheld.

4] Similarly, the Tribunal has applied the multiplier

of 9. However, if one considers the age of the dependents

namely the appellant No.1 who was of 53 years and the sister

of the deceased that of 19 years, the appropriate multiplier

would be 11.

5] The Tribunal has also not considered the future

prospects of the deceased, which as per the judgment of Sarla

Verma has to be considered as 50% of the income, which the

deceased was drawing at the time of accident.

6] It is then pertinent to note that the Tribunal has

awarded merely the amount of Rs.2000/- for funeral

expenses and Rs.2,500/- towards loss of love, affection and

estate. The said amount also needs to be enhanced in view of

the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma

and Rajesh and others.

7] If all these factors are taken into consideration,

then the amount of compensation to which the appellants are

entitled comes to Rs.1800/- per month towards the income +

Rs.900/- towards the future prospect = 2700 x 12 =

32,400/- divided by ½ spent towards the personal expenses

of the deceased comes to Rs.16,200/- multiplied by '11'

comes to Rs.1,78,200/- + Rs.25,000/- towards the funeral

expenses and Rs.1,00,000/- towards the loss of estate, love

and affection. Thus the total amount of compensation comes

to Rs.3,03,200/-.

8] As a result, the appeal is allowed and the amount

of compensation is enhanced from Rs.61,300/- inclusive of no

fault liability to Rs.3,03,200/- (inclusive of no fault liability)

with interest as awarded by the Tribunal, at the rate of 7.5%

per annum on the enhanced amount from the date of this

order.

9] The appeal is allowed and is disposed of

accordingly in the above terms.

JUDGE

NSN