Smt Sardarbee Aba Desai vs Shri Rajaram Gunaji Holam
2022 Latest Caselaw 7307 Bom

                                                                                          922 fa 3097-06.doc


                                     IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                             CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

                                                  FIRST APPEAL NO. 3097 OF 2006


                              Smt. Sardarbee Aba Desai                                 ..Appellant.

                                           v/s.

                              Shri Rajaram Gunaji Holam                                ..Respondents


                              Mr. S.G.Thorat for the Appellant.
                              Ms. Poonam Mittal for the Respondent No.2.

                                                        CORAM : ANUJA PRABHUDESSAI, J.

DATED : 28th JULY, 2022.

P.C.

1. The challenge in this appeal is to the judgment dated 8.9.2005 in

Motor Accident Claim Petition No. 259 of 2004, passed by MACT

Kolhapur. By the impugned judgment, the Claims Tribunal partly

allowed the Claim Petition under Section 163A filed by the Appellant

Claimants and awarded compensation of Rs.89,500/- with interest @ 9%

per anum from the date of petition till final realization. Being aggrieved

by the quantum of compensation awarded, the Claimant has filed this

appeal.

2. The Appellant is the mother of deceased Husen Aba Desai, who

died in a motor vehicular accident on 19.01.2004, involving truck

bearing No. MH 09.Q.6114. The said truck was owned by Respondent Digitally signed by PRASANNA P PRASANNA P SALGAONKAR No.1 and insured by Respondent No.2 Insurance Company. The SALGAONKAR Date:

2022.08.01 15:41:04 +0530

P P SALGAONKAR 1 of 3 922 fa 3097-06.doc

Appellant-claimant had alleged that the deceased was working as a

salesman of Mixer Grinder and earning Rs.3000/- per month. The

appellant claimed that she was fully dependent on the income of the

deceased, and hence claimed compensation of Rs.3,14,000/- from the

owner as well as the insurance company of the offending vehicle.

3. The Claims Tribunal, after considering the evidence on record

observed that the deceased Husen Aba Desai had expired as a result of

the injury sustained in the accident. The Tribunal observed that the

deceased was 26 years of age, and considering notional income at

Rs.15000/- per anum; deducting Rs.5000/- towards his personal

expenses and applying multiplier of 8, the Tribunal computed loss of

dependency to Rs.80000, in addition Rs.5000/- towards loss of love and

affection and Rs.4500/- towards loss of estate and funeral expenses.

4. Learned Counsel for the Appellant as well as learned Counsel for

the Respondent Insurance Company state that the Tribunal has erred in

applying multiplier of 8 on the basis of the age of the Applicant, who is

the mother of the deceased. It is well settled that the choice of the

multiplier is determined by the age of the deceased. The learned

Counsel for Respondent No.2 Insurance Company also concedes that

the annual income ought to have been considered as Rs.40000/- per

annum and 1/3rd should have been deducted towards personal expenses.

In view of the statement made by the learned Counsel for the Appellant

and the learned Counsel for the Respondent No.2 Insurance Company,

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the compensation is computed as under:

Income of deceased Rs.40,000/- per anum Dependency Rs.26,000/-

(deceased was unmarried hence after deducting 1/3rd of income towards personal expenses) Consider age as 26 Rs.26,666 x 18 + 4,79,988/-

                        years multiplier
                        applicable is 18
                        Funeral Expenses        Rs.2000/-
                        Loss of Estate          Rs.2500/-
                        Total                   Rs.4,84,488/-
                         Amount already         Rs.89,500/-
                        awarded by the
                        Tribunal is
                        Balance after           Rs.3,94,988/-
                        deducting the amount
                        already awarded.

Hence the Appellant claimant is entitled for compensation of

Rs.3,94,988/- which is rounded to ,3,95,000/-.

5. The Respondent No.2 Insurance Company to deposit the excess

amount with the Claims Tribunal, Kolhapur, within six weeks with

interest @ 7 % per anum from the date of petition till final realization.

6. Appeal stands disposed of.

                                                        (ANUJA PRABHUDESSAI, J.)




P P SALGAONKAR                                                                               3 of 3