Sona Devi vs Oriental Insurance Company Ltd
2009 Latest Caselaw 2216 Del

38
*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                       +     MAC.APP. 547/2007

                                     Date of Decision: 22nd May, 2009

%

      SONA DEVI                                        ..... Appellant
                       Through : Mr. J.B. Ravi, Adv.

                            versus

      ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD      ..... Respondent
                Through : Mr. Amit Kumar Pandey, Adv.

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

1.      Whether Reporters of Local papers may                   No
        be allowed to see the Judgment?

2.      To be referred to the Reporter or not?                  No

3.      Whether the judgment should be                          No
        reported in the Digest?


                            JUDGMENT (Oral)

1. The appellant has challenged the award of the learned

Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.2,33,140/- has been

awarded to the appellant. The appellant seeks enhancement of

the award amount.

2. The accident dated 19th July, 2005 resulted in the death of

Mahesh. The deceased was survived by his mother, two

brothers and one sister who filed the claim petition before the

learned Tribunal.

3. The deceased was aged 23 years at the time of the

accident and was working as a driver earning Rs.5,000/- per

month. However, no documentary evidence was furnished in

support of the income and the employer was also not

examined. In the absence of sufficient evidence to prove the

income, the learned Tribunal took the income of the deceased

according to the minimum wages of a skilled worker as

Rs.3,469/- per month. The learned Tribunal applied the

multiplier of 11 according to the Second Schedule of the Motor

Vehicles Act. The learned Tribunal deducted 1/3rd of the

income as personal expenses of the deceased for the first two

years and 2/3rd for the remaining period and computed loss of

dependency at Rs.55,504/- for first two years and Rs.1,52,636/-

for the remaining period. Rs.5,000/- has been awarded towards

the personal expenses and Rs.20,000/- for loss of love and

affection. The total compensation awarded is Rs.2,33,140/-.

4. The appellant has urged the following grounds at the

hearing of this appeal:-

(i) The learned Tribunal has not considered the

increase in minimum wages to meet the inflation

and price index.

(ii) The personal expenses of the deceased should be

deducted as 1/2 instead of 2/3rd.

(iii) The compensation be awarded for loss of estate.

5. With respect to the minimum wages, in Kanwar Devi vs.

Bansal Roadways, 2008 ACJ 2182, this Court took judicial

notice of the increase of minimum wages to meet the price

index and inflation rate. The Court has taken the view that the

minimum wages get doubled over the period of 10 years and

increase in minimum wages is not akin to future prospects. In

the case of Lekh Raj vs Suram Singh, 2007 ACJ 2165, this

Court took judicial notice of the increase in minimum wages

and the compensation was computed on the basis of the said

increase. In the case of National Insurance Company

Limited vs. Renu Devi III (2008) ACC 134, this Court took

the judicial notice of the fact that the minimum wages get

almost doubled over the period of 10 years and the

compensation was to be computed on that basis. In the case of

UPSRC vs. Munni Devi, MAC.APP.No.310/2007 decided on

28.07.2008, this Court followed the aforesaid judgments and

observed that the wages under the Minimum Wages Act

became almost more than double within a span of 10 years

period due to price index. Following the aforesaid judgments,

the income of the deceased is taken to be Rs.5203.50 rounded

off as 5,204/- by taking the average of minimum wages of

Rs.3,469 + Rs.6,938/-.

6. The deceased was unmarried and, therefore the personal

expenses of the deceased have to be deducted as 1/2 instead

of 2/3rd. After deducting 1/2 out of the income of Rs.5,204/-,

the dependency of the appellant is computed at Rs.2,602/-.

7. The deceased was unmarried and his mother was 51

years old at the time of the accident and, therefore, by applying

the multiplier of 11, the loss of dependency of the mother is

computed to be Rs.3,43,464/- (Rs.2,602 x 12 X 11).

8. The learned Tribunal has awarded fair compensation of

Rs.20,000/- for loss of love and affection and Rs.5,000/- towards

funeral expenses. However, the learned Tribunal has not

awarded any amount towards loss of estate. Rs.10,000/- is

awarded to the appellants towards loss of estate. Adding the

said amount, the total compensation payable to the mother is

computed to be Rs.3,78,434/-.

9. The appeal is allowed. The award amount is enhanced

from Rs.2,33,140/- to Rs.3,78,434/- along with interest at the

rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till

realization.

10. Respondent No.1 is directed to deposit the enhanced

amount along with interest with the learned Tribunal within 30

days.

11. On such deposit being made, the learned Tribunal is

directed to release a sum of Rs.50,000/- to appellant No.1. The

remaining amount be kept in fixed deposit in a nationalized

bank for a period of five years on which periodical interest be

paid to appellant No.1 but no loan, advance or withdrawal be

permitted without prior permission of the learned Tribunal.

12. Copy of this order be given 'Dasti' to learned counsel for

both the parties under signatures of Court Master.

J.R. MIDHA, J MAY 22, 2009 mk