Lajpat Rai Madan & Ors. vs The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.
2010 Latest Caselaw 1397 Del

17
*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                      +   MAC.APP.No.566/2007

                                Date of Decision : 12th March, 2010
%

      LAJPAT RAI MADAN & ORS.         ..... Appellants
                    Through : Mr. Ankur Singhal, Adv.

                      versus

    THE NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO. LTD. ..... Respondent
                  Through : Mr. Kanwal Chaudhary, Adv.
                             for R-1.
                             Mr. Rajat Aneja, Adv.
                             for R-3.
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. Respondent No.3 has filed the affidavit of his assets

and income in terms of the order dated 4th February, 2010

which is taken on record.

2. The appellants have challenged the award of the

learned Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.8,43,000/- has

been awarded to the appellants. The appellants seek

enhancement of the award amount.

3. The accident dated 22nd February, 2004 resulted in the

death of Jitender Madaan. The deceased was survived by his

parents and widow. However, the claim petition was filed

only by the parents.

4. The deceased was aged 30 years at the time of the

accident and was self-employed. The learned Tribunal took

the income of the deceased as Rs.1,50,636/- per annum on

the basis of the average of the last two Income Tax Returns,

deducted 1/3rd towards the personal expenses and applied

the multiplier of 8 to compute the loss of dependency at

Rs.8,03,392/-. Rs.10,000/- has been awarded towards funeral

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

Rs.10,000/- towards loss of consortium. The total

compensation awarded is Rs.8,43,000/-.

5. The learned counsel for the appellants has urged the

following grounds at the time of hearing of this appeal:-

(i) The income of the deceased be taken as

Rs.1,63,465/- per annum according to the Income

Tax Return for the years 2003 - 04.

(ii) The multiplier be enhanced from 8 to 11.

(iii) The rate of interest be enhanced from 7% per

annum to 7.5% per annum.

6. The income of the deceased as per the Income Tax

Returns was as under:-

S.NO. ASSESSMENT YEAR INCOME (PER ANNUM)

1. 2002-03 Rs.1,37,806.75

2. 2003-04 Rs.1,63,465.00

3. 2004-05 Rs.1,54,332.00

7. The deceased expired on 22nd February, 2004. The

Claims Tribunal has taken the average of the last two years

Income Tax Returns which comes to Rs.1,50,636/- per

annum. The finding of the Claims Tribunal in this regard is

upheld.

8. The Claims Tribunal has applied the multiplier of 8. The

deceased was aged 30 years at the time of the accident and

the age of the mother at the time of the accident was

54 years. The appropriate multiplier according to the age of

the mother is 11.

9. The Claims Tribunal has deducted 1/3rd towards the

personal expenses of the deceased. The deceased was

survived by the parents and widow but the widow has, by an

agreement with the parents, given up her rights to claim any

compensation. The parents of the deceased have paid

Rs.2,00,000/- to the widow of the deceased. The widow is

not claiming any compensation and the claim petition has

been preferred only by the parents. The appropriate

deduction towards the personal expenses according to the

judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sarla

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

129 is 1/2 as the claimants are the parents of the deceased

and the widow is not claiming any compensation. The

personal expenses of the deceased are, therefore, liable to

be increased from 1/3rd to 1/2.

10. Taking the income of the deceased as Rs.12,553/- per

month, deducting 1/2 towards the personal expenses and

applying the multiplier of 11, the loss of dependency is

computed to be Rs.8,28,498/- (Rs.12,553 x 1/2 x 12 x 11).

Adding Rs.10,000/- towards funeral expenses, Rs.20,000/-

towards loss of love and affection and Rs.10,000/- towards

loss of consortium, the total compensation is computed to be

Rs.8,68,498/- (Rs.8,28,498 + Rs.10,000 + Rs.20,000 +

Rs.10,000). The rate of interest is enhanced from 7% per

annum to 7.5% per annum.

11. The appeal is allowed and the award amount is

enhanced from Rs.8,43,000/- to Rs.8,68,498/- along with

interest @ 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the

petition till realization.

12. Respondent No.1 has deposited the amount awarded

by the Claims Tribunal and the same has been released to

the appellants except a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- which has been

awarded by the Claims Tribunal to the widow of the

deceased. Since the widow of the deceased has not made

any claim and the parents of the deceased have paid

Rs.2,00,000/- to the widow of the deceased, the finding of

the Claims Tribunal in so far as Rs.1,00,000/- has been

awarded to the widow is set aside. The amount of

Rs.1,00,000/-, which has been kept by the Claims Tribunal,

be released to the appellants. The learned counsel for the

appellants point out that the interim award has also not been

released to the appellants and the same is lying with the

Claims Tribunal. The Claims Tribunal is directed to release

the interim award amount also to the appellants.

13. The enhanced award amount along with interest be

deposited by respondent No.3 with the Claims Tribunal within

90 days. Upon the same being deposited, the Claims

Tribunal is directed to release the same to the appellants

without any restriction of fixed deposit.

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

for both the parties under signature of Court Master.

J.R. MIDHA, J

MARCH 12, 2010 mk