Delhi High Court
Manju & Ors. vs Ramesh Chand & Ors. on 29 July, 2009
Author: J.R. Midha
34
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ MAC.APP.65/2008
% Date of decision: 29th July, 2009
MANJU & ORS. ..... Appellants
Through : Mr. Jatinder Kamra, Adv.
versus
RAMESH CHAND & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through : Mr. Amit Kumar Pandey, Adv.
for R - 3.
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 impugned award of the
Learned Tribunal whereby the compensation of Rs.5,47,484/- has
been awarded to the appellants. The appellants seek
enhancement of the award amount.
2. The accident dated 10th July, 2006 resulted in the death of
Brij Mohan Gupta. The deceased was survived by his widow, two
sons, two daughters and mother who filed the claim petition
before the Learned Tribunal.
3. The deceased was aged 43 years at the time of the accident
and was working as a driver. However, in the absence of any
documentary proof of income, the learned Tribunal took the
minimum wages of Rs.3,736/- per month and deducted 1/5th
towards the personal expenses of the deceased and applied the
multiplier of 15 to compute the loss of dependency at
Rs.5,37,984/-. Rs.5,000/- has been awarded towards loss of
consortium, Rs.2,000/- has been awarded towards funeral
expenses and Rs.2,500/- has been awarded for loss of estate.
The total compensation awarded is Rs.5,47,484/-.
4. The learned counsel for the appellants submit that the
learned Tribunal has not taken into consideration the increase in
minimum wages due to inflation and increase in price index. The
learned counsel further submits that the learned Tribunal has not
awarded any compensation for loss of love and affection and the
compensation awarded for loss of consortium and loss of estate is
on a lower side.
5. It is well settled by the judgments of this Court in the cases
of 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
UPSRC vs. Munni Devi, MAC.APP.No.310/2007 decided on
28.07.2008 that the minimum wages get doubled over the period
of 10 years due to inflation and increase in price index and the
Court should take judicial notice of the same and compute the
compensation by taking the average of minimum wages and its
double.
6. Following the aforesaid judgments, the income of the
deceased for computation of compensation is taken to be
Rs.5,604/- [(Rs.3,736 + Rs. 7,472)/2]. Deducting 1/5th towards
the personal expenses of the deceased and applying the
multiplier of 15, the loss of dependency of the appellants is
computed to be Rs.8,06,976/- (Rs.5,604 X 4/5 X 12 X 15).
7. The learned Tribunal has not awarded any compensation for
loss of love and affection. Rs.10,000/- is awarded for loss of love
and affection. The compensation awarded by the learned
Tribunal towards loss of consortium is enhanced from Rs.5,000/-
to Rs.10,000/- and the compensation for loss of estate is also
enhanced from Rs.2,500/- to Rs.10,000/-. The appellants are
entitled to total compensation of Rs.8,38,976/- (Rs.8,06,976 +
Rs.10,000 + Rs.10,000 + Rs.10,000 + Rs.2,000).
8. The appeal is allowed and the award amount is enhanced
from Rs.5,47,484/- to Rs.8,38,976/- along with interest @ 7% per
annum from the date of filing of petition till realization.
9. The enhanced amount along with interest be deposited by
respondent No.3 with the Registrar General of this Court within
30 days.
10. The order with respect to the shares of the appellants and
the mode of disbursement shall be passed on the next date of
hearing. The claimants are directed to remain present in Court
on the next date of hearing.
11. Renotify on 2nd September, 2009.
12. Copy of this order be given 'Dasti' to learned counsel for
both the parties under signatures of Court Master.
J.R. MIDHA, J
JULY 29, 2009/mk
