Delhi High Court
Mohinder Kaur And Ors. vs Sardar Singh And Ors. on 26 October, 2004
Equivalent citations: I (2005) ACC 4
Author: R Sodhi
Bench: R Sodhi
JUDGMENT
R.S. Sodhi, J.
1. This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 28th August, 1986 of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Delhi (for short "the Tribunal") in Suit No. 140/1979 involving the death of Harcharan Singh in an accident that took place on 3rd September, 1979. The Tribunal vide its aforesaid order has awarded a sum of Rs. 1,12,000/- to appellant No. 1 and Rs. 50,000/- to appellant No. 2 together with interest @9% per annum.
2. The brief facts of this case, as been noted by the Tribunal, are as under :
"a claim petition filed filed by Smt. Mohinder Kaur and Gurveen Singh for grant of compensation on account of death of S. Harcharan Singh caused in the accident. Harcharan Singh deceased was 31 years old at the time of his death and was working as a Superisor and was drawing a salary of Rs. 1350 P.M. and Rs. 500/- from the private work.
The facts pleaded in the petition in brief are that on 3rd September 1979 at about 11.30 a.m. the deceased was going on G.T. Road on his correct side and at a slow speed on two wheeler scooter No. DHJ-2773 from his residence towards Rana Partap Bagh. Petitioner No. 1 was sitting on the pillion seat and was carrying petitioner No. 2 in her lap. When they were going to Rana Pratap Bagh, one Vehicle bearing No. DHL-7162 being driven in a rash nd negligent manner by Respondent No. 1 in course of employment of Respondent No. 2 came from the opposite direction and tried to take a steep turn towards the right, in that attempt he came on the wrong side and hit the scooter being driven by the deceased. The impact was so forceful that the petitioner No. 1 and 2 sustained injuries alongiwth Harcharan Singh who later on died due to the injuries received by him in the accident.
The petitioner No. 1 was pregnant at the time of accident. She also received head injuries and injuries on other parts of the body. Her son was also injured and all these factors gave her anxiety, mental shock, pain and agony which resulted in the miscarriage. Hence, it is prayed that an award of Rs. 4,00,000/- may be passed in favor of the petitioners."
3 . It is contended by counsel for the appellants that the Tribunal has gone wrong in calculating the claim inasmuch as it has not applied the formula as laid down by the Supreme Court in Sarla Dixit and Another Vs. Balwant Yadav and Others [1996 ACJ 581 ].
He has further contended that from the evidence on record it is made out that the deceased was earning a sum of Rs. 1275/- per month and was 31 years of age at the time of his death and that there were bright future prospects of his earning substantial amount in future. Since the future prospects have not been taken into consideration, the judgment of the Tribunal is bad.
4. Counsel for the insurance company/respondent No. 3 on the other hand contends that the Tribunal has been exceedingly liberal in its approach and has awarded a sufficient amount which need not be disturbed.
5. Heard counsel for the parties and have gone through the judgment under challenge as also the material on record. It appears to me from the deposition of PW-4, Subhash Khurana, who has produced the salary slip of the deceased, that the deceased at the time of death was earning a sum of Rs. 1275/- and that there were bright future prospects of him earning up to Rs. 6000/- per month. Going by the judgment of the Supreme Court in Sarla Dixit's case (supra), the Tribunal ought to have taken the future prospects of the deceased and applied the formula set down by the Supreme Court which would be 1275 X 2 + 1275 - 1/3 rd and multiplied by 12 and thereafter apply a multiplier of 17. Since the Tribunal has not correctly applied the judgment of the Supreme Court in Sarla Dixit's case (supra) to the claim of the appellants, I modify the judgment under challenge by directing the Tribunal to recalculate the claim on the basis of the formula set out herein-above. The above amount so calculated shall carry interest @9 per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the realisation of the amount, subject to adjustments made on amounts already paid.
6. With this modification, FAO23/1987 is allowed and the matter is remanded. The parties are directed to appear before the Tribunal on 13th December, 2004 The insurance company be informed of this order accordingly.
