National Insurance Co.Ltd. vs Hemanti & Ors.
2009 Latest Caselaw 3489 Del

32
*       IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                       +       MAC.APP.No.606/2008



%                                 Date of decision: 1st September, 2009



      NATIONAL INSURANCE CO.LTD.         ..... Appellant
                    Through : Mr. L.K. Tyagi, Adv.

                      versus

      HEMANTI & ORS.                   ..... Respondents
                    Through : Mr. S.N. Parashar, 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)

CM No.11197/2009

1. For the reasons stated in the application, the service of

respondents No.7 and 8 is dispensed with.

2. CM stands disposed of.

MAC.APP. 606/2008

1. The appellant has challenged the award of the learned

Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.8,40,000/- has been

awarded to claimants/respondents No.1 to 6.

2. The accident dated 3rd April, 2005 resulted in the death of

Shankar. The deceased was survived by his widow, four sons and

father 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 labourer earning Rs.4,500/- per month.

However, in the absence of any documentary evidence to prove

the income, the learned Tribunal took the minimum wages of

Rs.3,271/- into consideration and took the judicial notice of

increase in minimum wages due to inflation and rise in price

index. The income of the deceased was computed by taking the

average of minimum wages and its double. The learned Tribunal

deducted 1/4th towards the personal expenses of the deceased

and applied the multiplier of 17 to compute the loss of

dependency at Rs.7,50,686/-. Rs.10,000/- has been awarded

towards medical expenses, Rs.10,000/- towards funeral

expenses, Rs.15,000/- towards loss of love and affection,

Rs.15,000/- towards loss of consortium and Rs.39,252/- towards

loss of estate. The total compensation awarded is Rs.8,40,000/-.

4. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that the

deceased died after one year of the accident and the injuries

suffered by him due to the accident in question did not result in

his death. Without prejudice to the above submission, the

learned counsel for the appellant also challenges the quantum of

compensation on the ground that the judicial notice of the

minimum wages should not be taken into consideration for

computation of compensation. The learned counsel further

submits that the multiplier applied by the learned Tribunal is on a

higher side. The learned counsel further submits that the

personal expenses of the deceased be taken to be 1/3rd instead of

1/4th.

5. With respect to the cause of death of the deceased,

Dr. R. Sharma appeared as PW-3 and deposed that the death of

the deceased can be related to the injuries suffered by him in the

road accident. The deceased suffered spinal injury which

ultimately resulted in his death. The deceased suffered fracture

of C5 and C6 with Quadriparesis. The finding of the learned

Tribunal with respect to cause of death is, therefore, upheld.

6. With respect to the computation of compensation, the

learned Tribunal has taken judicial notice of increase in minimum

wages due to inflation and rise in price index. It is well settled by

catena of 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 UPSRTC vs.

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

the judicial notice be taken of increase in minimum wages due to

inflation and rise in price index and that the minimum wages get

doubled over the period of 10 years and the average of minimum

wages and its double be taken to compute the income of the

deceased for computation of compensation. The finding of the

learned Tribunal is in consonance with the aforesaid judgments of

this Court and there is no infirmity in the same.

7. The deceased left behind six dependents and, therefore, the

deduction of 1/4th towards the personal expenses is upheld. The

Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi

Transport Corporation, 2009 (6) Scale 129 held that the

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

where the deceased has left behind 4 to 6 dependants.

8. The learned Tribunal has applied the multiplier of 17

according to the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Act.

However, in the recent judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in

the case of Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation

(supra), the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held the appropriate

multiplier at the age of 34 to be 16. The judgment of the Hon'ble

Supreme Court was pronounced on 15th April, 2009. The

multiplier applied by the learned Tribunal needs to be reduced by

one. However, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this

case, this Court would not like to interfere with the multiplier

applied by the learned Tribunal considering that the deceased

suffered grievous injuries and was in a very traumatic condition

for one year and was entitled to compensation for pain and

suffering, loss of amenities of life, expenses on special diet and

conveyance for a period of one year but no compensation has

been awarded by the learned Tribunal under the above heads.

However, this case should not be treated as a precedent.

9. For all the aforesaid reasons, the appeal is disposed of.

10. The appellant has deposited the entire award amount with

the Registrar General of this Court in terms of the order dated

11th December, 2008 out of which 60% of the award amount has

been released to the appellants and the remaining award amount

is lying in fixed deposit.

11. The Registrar General of this Court is directed to release the

remaining 40% of the award amount to claimants/respondents

No.1 to 6 in terms of the award of the learned Tribunal within a

period of four weeks. The Registry shall verify whether the

appellant has adjusted the statutory amount of Rs.25,000/- while

depositing the award amount and if so, the statutory amount of

Rs.25,000/- shall also be released to the claimants. However, if

the appellant has not adjusted the statutory amount of

Rs.25,000/-, the same may be refunded back to the appellant

through counsel within a period of four weeks.

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

parties under the signature of Court Master.

J.R. MIDHA, J

SEPTEMBER 01, 2009 aj