Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Mun Mun Mallick & Ors vs National Insurance Co. Ltd. & Anr on 15 September, 2021
Ct.
No. 15.9 F.M.A. 1523 of 2008
26 2021 With
IA No. CAN 2 of 2013 (Old No. CAN 8467 of 2013)
1 With
akb IA No. CAN 3 of 2017 (Old No. CAN 8495 of 2017)
Mun Mun Mallick & Ors.
Vs.
National Insurance Co. Ltd. & Anr.
( Via Video Conference )
Mr. Krishanu Banik ...For the Appellants /Claimants
Mr. Parimal Kumar Pahari ...For the Respondent/Insurance Co.
By consent of the parties, the application for taking
note of the death of appellants/claimants No. 4 and 5 and
also for recording the attainment of majority of the
appellant/claimant No. 2 the application is taken up for
hearing.
On the oral prayer of the learned Counsel
appearing on behalf of the applicants/claimants, the
application is allowed subject to the prayer made in the said
application. No serious objection has been raised by Mr.
Parimal Kumar Pahari, learned Counsel appearing on behalf
of the Insurance Company/respondent.
The application is disposed of.
The concerned department is directed to amend the
cause title of the memorandum of appeal and tag the
application with the main appeal.
The appeal is directed against the judgment and
award dated June 13, 2007 passed by the learned Member,
Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Additional District Judge,
2nd Court, Nadia (hereinafter referred to as the learned
Tribunal Judge), in M.A.C. Case No. 436 of 2001 in a claim
under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for the
death of one Bhulu Mallick in a road accident occurred on
December 13, 2001.
The claim petition was filed under Section 166 of
the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The learned Counsel for the
appellants/claimants submit that the learned Tribunal
committed an error in law while assessing the monthly
income of the deceased as Rs.1,750/- instead and in place of
Rs. 98,700/- per annum which was established by the
claimants by producing oral evidence as well as
documentary evidence. The Income Tax Return for the
Assessment Year 2000-2001, which was marked as Exbt. 5,
was filed and duly proved before the learned Tribunal. The
learned Counsel for the appellants/claimants further submit
that the learned Tribunal committed error in law while not
granting 40% additional income towards 'future prospect'
since the deceased was 35 years old and self-employed.
In reply, Mr. Parimal Kumar Pahari, learned
Counsel appearing on behalf of the Insurance Company
submits that the award passed by the learned Tribunal is
absolutely just and there is no scope of interference and/or
modification of the award under the present appeal.
In view of the law as it stands now, after the
decisions pronounced by the Hon'ble Apex Court in cases of
Smt. Sarala Verma & Ors. -Vs.- Delhi Transport Corporation &
Anr., reported in (2009) 6 SCC 121 and in the case of National
Insurance Company Limited -Vs.- Pranay Sethi & Ors., reported in
(2017) 16 SCC 680, the submissions and the points made by
Mr. Banik are accepted. The claimants are entitled to 40%
additional income as 'future prospect' of the deceased.
Therefore, the impugned award is thus modified as stated
hereinafter :
Annual Income Rs. 98,700/-
40% future prospects Rs. 39,480/-
Annual loss of income Rs. 1,38,180/-
th
1/4 deduction for personal Expenses Rs. 34,545/-
After deduction the figure comes Rs. 1,03,635/-
Use Multiplier (16) (1,03,635 X 16) Rs.16.58,160/-
Add: General Damages Rs. 70,000/-
Principal Compensation Rs.17,28,160/-
Mr. Banik acknowledges that his clients have
already received a sum of Rs. 2,42,500/- together with
interest and therefore the differential amount of
Rs.14,58,600/- together with 6% interest from the date of
filing the claim petition till the payment, shall be paid to the
three surviving claimants by the respondent Insurance
Company in the same manner and proportion as decided by
the Court below within 45 days from the date of receipt of
the particulars of their bank account details to be supplied by
their learned Counsel to the learned Counsel for the
Insurance Company.
It is made clear that the payment shall be made
directly through NEFT/RTGS to the bank accounts of the
claimants/appellants.
With the aforesaid directions, the instant appeal
being F.M.A. 1523 of 2008 stand disposed of.
In view of disposal of the appeal, all connected
applications, if any, are also disposed of. The concerned
Department is directed to trace out the applications and tag
with this appeal.
LCR, if any may be returned back to the Court
below.
Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if
applied for, be given to the parties, upon compliance of all
formalities, on priority basis.
( Shekhar B. Saraf, J.)
