Reba Shee & Ors. vs Taj Pal & Ors.
2009 Latest Caselaw 1914 Del

11
*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                       +    MAC.APP.219/2008

                                    Date of Decision: 6th May, 2009
%

      REBA SHEE & ORS.              ..... Appellants
                    Through : Mr. Manish Mannie, Adv.

                       versus

      TAJ PAL & ORS.                        ..... Respondents
                            Through : Mr. S.L. Gupta, 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 award of the

learned Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.2,85,000/- has

been awarded to the appellants. The appellants seek the

enhancement of the award amount.

2. The accident dated 6th June, 2006 resulted in the death

of Govind Lal Shee. The deceased was crossing the road

through zebra crossing when the offending bus came and

crushed him to death. The deceased was aged 50 years at

the time of the accident and was survived by widow, one son

and one daughter who filed the claim petition before the

learned Tribunal.

3. The deceased was earning Rs.6,500/- per month. The

learned Tribunal took the income of the deceased at

Rs.6,000/- per month and deducted 1/3rd towards the

personal expenses and applied the multiplier of 5 to compute

the loss of dependency at Rs.2,40,000/-. Rs.10,000/- has

been awarded towards loss of funeral expenses, Rs.15,000/-

towards loss of consortium and Rs.20,000/- towards loss of

love and affection. The total compensation awarded is

Rs.2,85,000/-.

4. The appellant has challenged the impugned award on

the ground that the age of the deceased was 57 years and

the multiplier of 9 should have been applied instead of 5.

The second ground of challenge is that the future prospects

have not been considered. The third ground of challenge is

that the compensation for loss of consortium and loss of love

and affection be enhanced.

5. With respect to the multiplier applied by the learned

Tribunal, the multiplier for the age of 57 years is 9 as per the

recent judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla

Verma vs. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009 (6) Scale

129 decided on 15th April, 2009. The appellants have duly

proved the ration card which shows the age of the deceased

to be 57 years. The learned counsel for the respondent

submits that the post-mortem report mentions the age of the

deceased to be 63 years. The post-mortem report carries

the probable age of the deceased but the ration card is a

more authentic evidence of the age of the deceased. The

age of the deceased is, therefore, taken to be 57 years and

the multiplier is enhanced from 5 to 9. The compensation is

computed to be Rs.4,77,000/- (Rs.48,000 x 9 + Rs.10,000 +

Rs.15,000 + Rs.20,000).

6. With respect to the future prospects, as per the recent

judgment of the Apex Court in Sarla Verma's case (Supra),

no future prospects have to be computed after the age of the

50 years.

7. The compensation for loss of love and affection and

consortium has been fairly assessed by the learned Tribunal.

8. The appeal is partially allowed. The award amount is

enhanced from Rs.2,85,000/- to Rs.4,77,000/- along with

interest @7% per annum from the date of filing of the

petition till realization. Respondent No.3 is directed to

deposit the enhanced amount along with interest with the

learned Tribunal within 30 days and the learned Tribunal is

directed to release the same in the same proportion and in

the same manner as in paras 28 and 29 of the original

award.

J.R. MIDHA, J

MAY 06, 2009 aj