Nirmala Devi vs Jitender Singh & Anr.
2009 Latest Caselaw 3050 Del

20
*       IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                         +       MAC.APP.631/2007

%                                      Date of decision: 7th August, 2009



      NIRMALA DEVI                          ..... Appellant
                             Through     Mr. O.P. Gulabani, Advocate

                       versus

      JITENDER SINGH & ANR.                      ..... Respondents
                    Through              None.


CORAM :-
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.R. MIDHA

1.      Whether Reporters of Local papers may                        YES
        be allowed to see the Judgment?

2.      To be referred to the Reporter or not?                       YES

3.      Whether the judgment should be                               YES
        reported in the Digest?

                                JUDGMENT (Oral)

1. The appellants have challenged the award of the learned

Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.1,09,650/- has been

awarded to the appellants. The appellants seek enhancement of

the award amount.

2. The accident dated 6th December, 1991 resulted in the

death of Ram Kumar aged 25 years. The deceased was survived

by his widow, daughter and parents who filed the claim petition

before the learned Tribunal

3. The deceased was working as dispatch clerk with M/s Flex

Industries limited earning Rs.1,607/- per month. The learned

Tribunal took the income of the deceased as Rs.1,600/- per

month and deducted 1/3rd towards the personal expenses of the

deceased and applied the multiplier of 7 to compute the loss of

dependency at Rs.89,650/-. Rs.5,000/- has been awarded

towards the funeral expenses and Rs.15,000/- towards loss of

love and affection. The total compensation awarded is

Rs.1,09,650/-.

4. The learned counsel for the appellant has urged the

following grounds at the time of hearing of this appeal:-

(i) The future prospects be taken into consideration to

compute the compensation.

(ii) The multiplier of 18 should be applied considering the

age of the deceased.

(iii) The compensation be awarded towards loss of

consortium.

(iv) Interest rate be enhanced from 6% to 9%.

5. With respect to the income of the deceased, the appellant

appeared in the witness box as PW-2 and proved the salary

certificate - Ex.PW2/1 according to which the deceased was

earning Rs.1,607/- per month. PW-2 further deposed that the

deceased was giving Rs.1,300-Rs.1,400/- for household

expenses. The Supervisor, Flex Industries Limited appeared as

PW-3 and confirmed the salary certificate - Ex.PW2/1 to be

correct. PW-3 further deposed that the colleague of the

deceased has been promoted as Supervisor and is drawing a

salary of Rs.8,000/- per month.

6. From the statements of PW-2 and PW-3, it has been proved

that the income of the deceased at the time of the accident was

Rs.1,607/- per month out of which the deceased was contributing

Rs.1,300 - Rs.1,400/- towards the household expenses. PW-3 has

also proved the future prospects of the deceased.

7. Considering the evidence on record, the income of the

deceased is taken to be Rs.1,607/- and 50% is added towards the

future prospects according to the recent judgment of the Hon'ble

Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport

Corporation, 2009 (6) Scale 129 and the income after taking

future prospects into consideration is taken to be Rs.2,410.50

(Rs.1,607 + Rs.803.50) per month.

8. The deceased was contributing Rs.1,300 - Rs.1,400/- per

month to his family out of Rs.1,607/- per month. Deduction of

1/3rd towards the personal expenses is not a thumb rule. Where

the income of the deceased is very low, the personal expenses of

the deceased can be taken to be 1/5 th or 1/6th. Considering the

income of the deceased to be lower than even the minimum

wages, 1/6th of the aforesaid amount is taken to be personal

expenses of the deceased. The deduction of 1/6th is allowed in

the peculiar facts of this case and shall not be treated as a

precedent. The loss of dependency of the claimant is taken to be

Rs.2008.75/-(Rs.2,410.5 X 5/6) which is rounded off as Rs.2,000/-.

9. The deceased left behind his widow, daughter and parents.

The deceased was aged 25 years at the time of the accident. The

deceased had married the appellant about one year before the

accident. The learned Tribunal has applied the multiplier of 7

considering the age of the mother of the deceased. The

appropriate multiplier according to the age of the deceased is 18

as per the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of

Sarla Verma (Supra).

10. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that appellant

No.1 is the widow of the deceased and she remarried the younger

brother of the deceased on 13th December, 1995 in the interest of

the child and the family. The learned counsel for the appellant

further submits that the widow is still in the family of the

deceased and is dependent on the compensation to be awarded

in respect of the death of the deceased. The learned Tribunal

was in error in not considering the appellant to be dependent

upon the deceased and in applying the multiplier according to the

age of the mother of the deceased. The finding of the learned

Tribunal with respect to application of multiplier of 7 is, therefore,

modified and the multiplier of 18 is applied considering the age of

the deceased. The loss of dependency applying the multiplier of

18 is computed to Rs.4,32,000/- (Rs.2,000/- X 12 X 18).

12. The learned Tribunal has not awarded any amount towards

loss of consortium and loss of estate. Rs.10,000/- is awarded

towards loss of consortium and Rs.10,000/- towards loss of

estate. The total compensation payable in respect of the death

of the deceased is Rs.4,72,000/- (Rs.4,32,000/- + Rs.5,000/- +

Rs.15,000/- + Rs.10,000/- + Rs.10,000/-).

13. The appeal is allowed and the award amount is enhanced

from Rs.1,09,650/- to Rs.4,72,000/-.

14. The learned Tribunal has awarded interest at the rate of 6%

per annum which is low considering the prevalent rate of interest

at the time of filing of the petition. The rate of interest on the

award amount is, therefore, enhanced from 6% to 9% per annum

from the date of filing of the petition, i.e, 30th January, 1992 up to

31st December, 2001 and at the rate of 7.5% per annum from 1 st

January, 2002 till realization.

15. The shares of the claimants in the enhanced award amount

shall be as under:-

      Appellant No. 1        20%
      Appellant No. 2        10%
      Appellant No. 3        70%

16. Respondent no.3 is directed to deposit the enhanced

awarded amount along with interest within 30 days. The deposit

be made by means of a cheque drawn in the name of UCO Bank

A/c Smt. Nirmala Devi and to be handed over to Mr. M.M. Tandon,

Member-Retail Team, UCO Bank Zonal, Parliament Street, New

Delhi (Mobile No. 09310356400). Upon the aforesaid deposit

being made, UCO Bank is directed to release a sum of Rs.50,000/-

to the appellant No.1 and Rs.50,000/- to appellant No.2 by

transferring the said amount in their respective Saving Accounts.

17. The remaining shares of the appellants be kept in fixed

deposit for a period of 5 years. The interest be paid monthly by

transferring the same in their respective Savings Accounts.

18. The interest on the aforesaid fixed deposits shall be paid

monthly by automatic credit of interest in the Savings Account of

appellants.

19. No cheque book be issued to the appellants without the

permission of this Court.

20. The original Fixed Deposit Receipts shall be retained by the

Bank in the safe custody. However, the original Pass Books shall

be given to the appellants along with the photocopy of the FDRs.

21. The original Fixed Deposit Receipts shall be handed over to

the appellants at the end of the fixed deposit period.

22. No loan, advance or withdrawal shall be permitted on the

said Fixed Deposit Receipts without the permission of this Court.

23. On the request of the appellants, the Bank shall transfer the

Savings Account to any other branch of UCO Bank in Delhi

according to the convenience of the claimants.

24. The appellants shall furnish all the relevant documents for

opening of the Saving Bank Accounts and Fixed Deposit Accounts

to Mr. M.M. Tandon, Member-Retail Team, UCO Bank Zonal,

Parliament Street, New Delhi (Mobile No. 09310356400).

25. Copy of the order be given dasti to counsel for both the

parties under the signatures of the Court Master.

26. Copy of this order be also sent to Mr. M.M. Tandon, Member-

Retail Team, UCO Bank Zonal, Parliament Street, New Delhi

(Mobile No. 09310356400) through the UCO Bank, High Court

Branch under the signature of Court Master.

J.R. MIDHA, J AUGUST 07, 2009/rs