Dinesh Singh & Anr vs Rama Nand Singh & Ors
2012 Latest Caselaw 2880 Del

*        IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                                              Date of decision: 1st May, 2012
+        MAC.APP. 224/2012

         DINESH SINGH & ANR                          ..... Appellant
                         Through             Mr. Manish Maini, Advocate
                  versus

         RAMA NAND SINGH & ORS                              ..... Respondent
                      Through  None

         CORAM:
         HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE G.P.MITTAL

                                   JUDGMENT

G. P. MITTAL, J. (ORAL)

1. The Appeal is for enhancement of compensation of `10,54,500/- awarded by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (the Claims Tribunal) for the death of Rupesh Kumar, who died in a motor accident which took place on 01.09.2008.

2. The deceased was B.Sc. (Hons.) and held a Postgraduate Diploma in Management. He was employed as a Relationship Manager with India Bulls Securities Limited. He was earning a sum of `2,40,000/- per annum and was confirmed by a Confirmation letter dated 07.09.2006.

3. Following contentions are raised on behalf of the Appellants:-

(i) The future prospects were not considered inspite of the

fact that he was a highly qualified person and was in permanent employment.

(ii) The multiplier should have been '11'instead of '9'as per the age of the deceased's mother who was 55 years.

4. The Claims Tribunal on the question of the assessment of loss of dependency held as under:-

"12. The income of the deceased is taken as Rs.2,40,000/- per annum. The petitioner failed to disclose the amount deducted towards income tax therefore after deduction of RS.9,000/- towards income tax, the net income comes to Rs.2,31,000/- per annum. Interest of justice in the present case would be met if ½ i.e. Rs.1,15,500/- is deducted as the personal and living expenses of the deceased (as the deceased was bachelor). After such deduction the contribution to the family (dependants) is determined as Rs.1,15,500/- per annum. The multiplier applicable would be 9 (As age of mother was stated to be 55 years at the time of accident while the age of the father of the deceased as mentioned in PAN card as 09.07.1950 i.e. 58 years at the time of accident. Multiplier taken at the average age of mother i.e. 55 years and father's age i.e. 58 years at the time of accident. Therefore, the total loss on dependency would be RS.1,15,500/- x 9 = 10,39,500/-."

5. The Claims Tribunal while declining the future prospects held that the deceased had just about two months of service and there was nothing on record to prove the future prospects.

6. The letter dated 07.09.2006 clearly shows that the deceased was a confirmed employee of India Bulls. Considering that the

deceased was a highly qualified person, aged about 26 years who was at the threshold of his career and was a confirmed employee, the Appellants were therefore entitled to an addition of 50% in the deceased's income towards future prospects.

7. The Claims Tribunal while making deduction towards personal and living expenses took the average age of the parents to determine the loss of dependency. It was observed that the deceased's mother was aged 55 years and his father was aged 58 years on the date of the accident. Since father is not considered as a dependant, the age of the deceased's mother i.e. 55 years would be considered to determine the multiplier which would be '11'. The loss of dependency thus comes to `19,05,750/- (2,40,000/- - 9,000/- + 50% x 1/2 x 11).

8. On adding conventional sums of `25,000/- towards Loss of Love and Affection and `10,000/- each towards Funeral Expenses and Loss to Estate, the overall compensation comes to `19,50,750/-.

9. The compensation is thus enhanced from `10,54,500/- to `19,05,750/- which shall carry interest @7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the Petition till the date of deposit.

10. Respondent No.3 United India Insurance Company Limited is directed to make the deposit of the enhanced compensation of `8,51,250/- alongwith interest within six weeks with UCO Bank, Delhi High Court Branch, New Delhi in the proportion as

awarded by the Claims Tribunal in the name of the Appellants.

11. The enhanced compensation shall be released in favour of the Appellants in terms of the Tribunal's order.

12. The Appeal is allowed in above terms.

(G.P. MITTAL) JUDGE MAY 01, 2012 vk