Delhi High Court
Cholamandalam Ms General Ins Co. ... vs Sushma Rani & Ors. on 18 April, 2012
Author: G.P. Mittal
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Decided on: 18th April, 2012
+ MAC.APP. 660/2011
CHOLAMANDALAM MS GENERAL INS CO. LTD.
..... Appellant
Through: Mr. Suman Bagga, Advocate
versus
SUSHMA RANI & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Sanjiv Gupta, Advocate for
the Respondent No.1 to 3.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE G.P.MITTAL
JUDGMENT
G. P. MITTAL, J. (ORAL)
1. The Appellant, Cholamandalam MS General INS. Co. Ltd.
seeks reduction of compensation of `9,57,000/- awarded for the
death of Sidharth Chaudhary who died in a motor accident
which occurred on 30.12.2009.
2. During inquiry before the Claims Tribunal, it was established
that the deceased was working as a Sales Executive in Triveni
Sales Corporation since 05.07.2009 (i.e. about five months prior
to the accident) and was getting a salary of `7,000/- per month.
The Claims Tribunal took the deceased's income to be `7,000/-,
added 50% thereof towards future prospects, applied the
multiplier of 14 relevant to the age of the deceased's mother and
deducted half towards the personal and living expenses to
compute the loss of dependency as `8,82,000/-. The Claims
Tribunal awarded a sum of `25,000/- towards funeral expenses
and `50,000/- towards loss of love and affection.
3. The contentions raised on behalf of the Appellant Insurance
Company are:
i) That the Claims Tribunal erred in granting future
prospects in spite of the fact that there is no evidence
adduced for the same by the Respondents No.1 and 2.
ii) That the award of compensation of `50,000/- towards
love and affection is on the higher side.
4. The Appeal is bound to succeed on both the counts.
5. The Respondents No.1 to 3 proved the documents Exhibits
PW2/1 to PW2/5 to establish that the deceased was employed as
a Sales Executive with Triveni Sales Corporation and he was
getting a salary of `7,000/- per month since the date of his
employment. No evidence was adduced to show that the
deceased was a permanent employee of Triveni Sales
Corporation or that he had bright future prospects. The
appointment letter Ex.PW2/3 simply shows that he was granted
a salary of `7,000/- per month excluding conveyance. In the
absence of any evidence with regard to the future prospects, the
Respondents No.1 to 3 were not entitled to any addition on
account of future prospects. Thus, the loss of dependency
comes to `5,88,000/- (`7000 X 12 X 1/2 X 14).
6. The loss of love and affection can never be measured in terms
of money. Thus, uniformity has to be adopted by the Courts
while granting non-pecuniary damages. The Supreme Court in
Sunil Sharma v. Bachitar Singh (2011) 11 SCC 425 and in Baby
Radhika Gupta v. Oriental Insurance Company Limited (2009)
17 SCC 627 granted ` 25,000/- (in total to all the claimants)
only under the head of loss of love and affection. Thus, I would
reduce the compensation under this head to ` 25,000/- only. The
amount awarded towards funeral expenses has not been
challenged.
7. The compensation is recomputed as under:
Sl. Compensation under Awarded by Awarded by
various heads the Claims this Court
No. Tribunal
1. Loss of Dependency `8,82,000/- `5,88,000/-
2. Funeral Expenses ` 25,000/- ` 25,000/-
3. Loss of Love & Affection ` 50,000/- ` 25,000/-
Total ` 9,57,000/- ` 6,38,000/-
8. The compensation stands reduced from `9,57,000/- to
`6,38,000/-.
9. The amount payable to the Respondents No.1 and 2 shall be
released to them in terms of the orders passed by the Claims
Tribunal.
10. The excess amount of `3,19,000/- along with proportionate
interest and the interest accrued during the pendency of the
Appeal shall be refunded by the State Bank of India, District
Court Saket Branch to the Appellant Insurance Company.
11. The Appeal is allowed in above terms.
12. The statutory amount of `25,000/- shall be refunded to the
Appellant Insurance Company.
(G.P. MITTAL)
JUDGE
APRIL 18, 2012
pst
