National Insurance Co. Ltd. vs Sushila &Ors.
2009 Latest Caselaw 5234 Del

6
*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                      +   MAC.APP.No.209/2006

                               Date of Decision: 15th December, 2009
%

      NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.        ..... Appellant
                    Through : Ms. Neerja Sachdeva, Adv.

                      versus

      SUSHILA &ORS.                            ..... Respondents
                           Through : Mr. A.C. Daniel and
                                     Mr. A.K. Choudhary, Advs.
                                     for R-1 to 8.

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)

CM No.10386/2009

1. For the reasons stated in the application and also

noting that the claimants have good case on merits and the

appeal is still pending, the delay in filing and refiling of the

cross-objections is condone.

2. CM stands disposed of.

MAC.APP. 209/2006 and Cross-Objections

1. The appellant has challenged the award of the learned

Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.14,86,868/- has been

awarded to claimants/respondents No.1 to 8. The appellant

is seeking reduction of the award amount.

Claimants/respondents No.1 to 8 have filed cross-objections

seeking enhancement of the award amount.

2. The accident dated 6th January, 2000 resulted in the

death of Tek Ram. The deceased was survived by his

widow, four daughters, two sons and mother who filed the

claim petition before the learned Tribunal.

3. The deceased was aged 34 years at the time of the

accident and was working as a driver with MCD at a salary of

Rs.7,117/- per month. The learned Tribunal took the future

prospects into consideration and deducted 1/3 rd towards the

personal expenses and applied the multiplier of 17 to

compute the loss of dependency at Rs.14,51,868/-.

Rs.10,000/- has been awarded towards loss of consortium,

Rs.10,000/- towards loss of love and affection, Rs.10,000/-

towards loss of expectancy of life and Rs.5,000/- towards

funeral expenses. The total compensation awarded is

Rs.14,86,868/-.

4. The learned counsel for the appellant has urged at the

time of hearing of this appeal that the appropriate multiplier

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 at the age of 34 years is

16 and, therefore, the multiplier be reduced from 17 to 16.

5. The learned counsel for claimants/respondents No.1 to

8 on the other hand submit that the personal expenses of the

deceased be reduced from 1/3rd to 1/5th as the deceased has

left behind eight legal representatives.

6. According to the recent judgment of the Hon'ble

Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma (supra), the

appropriate multiplier at the age of 34 years is 16 and

appropriate deduction towards personal expenses of the

deceased who has left behind more than six legal

representatives is 1/5th.

7. Following the aforesaid judgment, the multiplier is

reduced from 17 to 16 and personal expenses of the

deceased are reduced from 1/3rd to 1/5th.

8. The learned counsel for the claimants submit that the

learned Tribunal has not awarded any compensation for loss

of estate. The learned Tribunal has awarded Rs.10,000/- for

loss of expectancy of life of the deceased which is not a

permissible head under law. The compensation of

Rs.10,000/- awarded for loss of expectancy of life shall be

treated to be towards loss of estate.

9. Taking the annual income of the deceased at

Rs.1,28,106/-, deducting 1/5th towards personal expenses

and applying the multiplier of 16, the loss of dependency is

computed to be Rs.16,39,756/- (Rs.1,28,106 x 16 x 4/5).

10. Adding Rs.35,000/- towards the non-pecuniary

damages awarded by the learned Tribunal, the total

compensation is computed to be Rs.16,74,756/-

(Rs.16,39,756 + Rs.35,000).

11. The appeal as well as the cross-objections are partially

allowed and the award amount is enhanced from

Rs.14,86,868/- to Rs.16,74,756/- along with interest @7.5%

per annum from the date of filing of the petition till

realization.

12. The enhanced award amount along with interest be

deposited by the appellant with UCO Bank, Delhi High Court

Branch A/c Sushila by means of a cheque through Mr. M.M.

Tandon, Member-Retail Team, UCO Bank Zonal, Parliament

Street, New Delhi (Mobile No. 09310356400) within 45 days.

13. The order with respect to the disbursement of the

award amount shall be passed after examining the claimants

who are directed to remain present in Court on the next date

of hearing.

14. List on 9th February, 2010.

J.R. MIDHA, J

DECEMBER 15, 2009 aj