Vidyawati & Ors. vs Krishan Kumar & Ors.
2009 Latest Caselaw 2773 Del

16
*       IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                      +      MAC.APP.53/2004

%                                Date of decision: 22nd July, 2009

      VIDYAWATI & ORS.                        ..... Appellants
                    Through:       Mr. Harvinder Singh, Adv.

                   versus

      KRISHAN KUMAR & ORS.                    ..... Respondents
                   Through:        Mr. L.K. Tyagi, Adv.

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.3,90,836/- has been

awarded to the appellants. The appellants seek enhancement of

the award amount.

2. The accident dated 20th June, 2000 resulted in the death of

Avdesh @ Nanak Yadav. The deceased was survived by his

widow, father, three daughters and one son, who filed the claim

petition before the learned Tribunal.

3. The deceased was aged 28 years at the time of the

accident and was running a dairy earning Rs.6,000/- per month.

However, in the absence of sufficient evidence, the learned

Tribunal took the minimum wages of Rs.2419/- per month in

respect of unskilled worker and applied the multiplier of 18 after

deducting 1/3 towards the personal expenses to compute the loss

of dependency at Rs.3,48,336/-. Rs.5,000/- has been awarded

towards funeral expenses, Rs.5,000/- to each of the children

towards loss of love and affection and Rs.2,500/- to each of the

children and father towards loss of estate and Rs.5,000/- towards

loss of consortium. Total compensation awarded is Rs.3,90,836/-.

4. Learned counsel for the appellant has challenged the

award on two grounds. The first ground of challenge is that the

increase in minimum wages due to inflation and increase in price

index has not been taken into consideration. The second ground

of challenge is that the personal expenses of the deceased have

been taken as 1/3 instead of 1/4.

5. It is well settled in catena of judgments, namely, Kanwar

Devi vs. Bansal Roadways, 2008 ACJ 2182; Lekh Raj vs

Suram Singh, 2007 ACJ 2165; National Insurance Company

Limited vs. Renu Devi III (2008) ACC 134; and UPSRTC vs.

Munni Devi MAC.APP.No.310/2007 decided on 28.07.2008 that

judicial note be taken that minimum wages get doubled over a

period of ten years due to inflation and increase in price index,

and, therefore, the income of the deceased for computation of

compensation is the average of minimum wages and its double.

Following the aforesaid judgments, the income of the deceased is

taken to be Rs.3,628.5 [(Rs.2,419 + Rs.2,419 X 2)/ 2].

6. The deceased has left behind six dependants. 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, the personal expenses of the deceased have to be

deducted @ 1/4 where the deceased has left behind four to six

legal representatives. Following the aforesaid judgment, the

personal expenses of the deceased are taken to be 1/4 th instead

of 1/3.

7. The learned Tribunal has applied the multiplier of 18. The

deceased was aged 28 years and the appropriate multiplier

according to the recent judgment in the case Sarla Verma Vs.

Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009 (6) Scale 129 is 17. The

multiplier is reduced from 18 to 17. Taking the income of the

deceased to be Rs.3,628.5, deducting 1/4 towards personal

expenses and applying the multiplier of 17, the loss of

dependency is computed to be Rs.5,55,162 (Rs.3,628.5 X 3/4 =

Rs.2,721.38 X 12 X 17) and adding Rs.5,000/- towards loss of

consortium, Rs.5,000/- to each of the four minor children towards

loss of love and affection, Rs.2,500/- to each of the children and

father towards loss of estate and Rs.5,000/- towards funeral

expenses, the total compensation is computed to be

Rs.5,97,662/- (Rs.5,55,162 + Rs.5,000 + Rs.20,000 + Rs.12,500

+ Rs.5,000).

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

from Rs.3,90,836/- to Rs.5,97,662/- . The learned Tribunal has

awarded interest at the rate of Rs.9% per annum which is not

disturbed on the original award amount of Rs.3,90,836/-.

However, on the enhanced award amount, interest shall be 7.5%

from the date of the filing of the petition till realization.

9. Respondent No.3 is directed to deposit the enhanced

award amount with the learned Tribunal along with interest

within 30 days. The shares of the claimants in the award amount

shall be in the same proportion as in the original award and the

same be released in the mode and manner as in the original

award.

10. After depositing the enhanced award amount along with

interest, respondent No.3 is entitled to recover the same from

respondent No.2 in view of the violation of the terms and

conditions of the insurance policy.

11. Copy of this order be given dasti to learned counsel for the

parties under the signatures of the Court.

J.R. MIDHA, J.

22ND JULY, 2009 s.pal