Delhi High Court
Krishan Kanta Marwah & Anr. vs Reliance General Insurance Co. ... on 17 May, 2012
Author: G.P. Mittal
$~6
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of decision:17th May, 2012
+ MAC. No.478/2011
KRISHAN KANTA MARWAH & ANR.
..... Appellants
Through: Mr. S.N. Parashar, Advocate
Versus
RELIANCE GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. & ORS.
..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Sameer Nandwani,
Advocate for Respondent No.1
Insurance Company.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE G.P.MITTAL
JUDGMENT
G. P. MITTAL, J. (ORAL)
1. The Appeal is for enhancement of compensation of ` 4,20,000/-
awarded by the Claims Tribunal for the death of Vidit Marwah
a B.Sc. first year student and aged a little less than 18 years,
who died in an accident which occurred on 03.07.2007.
2. By impugned order, the Claims Tribunal took the notional
income of ` 15,000/- and following the judgment of this Court
in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Farzana & Ors., awarded a
compensation of ` 2,70,000/- towards loss of dependency and `
75,000/- each towards future prospects and non-pecuniary
damages.
3. It is urged by the learned counsel for the Appellant that since
the deceased was doing a professional course, his parents ought
to have been awarded compensation on the basis of his
potential income.
4. It is established from the record that the deceased Vidit Marwa
scored 83% marks in the 10th standard and 85% in the 12th
standard conducted by the Central Board of Secondary
Education. He was graded A1/A2 in all the subjects except
Physical and Health Education. Obviously, the deceased did
not have any income on the date of the accident.
5. During the inquiry before the Claims Tribunal, it was
established that the deceased was pursuing B.Sc. (Computers)
from a prestigious University and had an excellent educational
record. However, no evidence was adduced by the Appellants
to show the placement offers in the year of the death of the
deceased or in the year in which the deceased would have
passed out his B.Sc.(Computers).
6. In the case of Haji Zainullah Khan (Dead) by Lrs. v. Nagar
Mahapalika, Allahabad, 1994 (5) SCC 667, death of a young
boy, aged 20 years took place in an accident which happened in
the year 1972. The deceased was a student of B.Sc Ist year
(Biology), a compensation of `1,46,900/- was increased and
rounded off to ` 1,50,000/-.
7. In Ganga Devi & Ors. v. New India Assurance Co. Ltd. & Ors.,
MAC APP. 359/2008, decided by this Court on 23.11.2009,
which related to the death of a student (studying medicine) who
was doing internship and was to be awarded the MBBS degree
in a short time, the Tribunal awarded a compensation of `
9,35,352/- on the basis of the minimum wages of a Graduate.
This Court observed that although the deceased was getting a
stipend of ` 5,000/- per month at the time of his death due to
the accident, he would have ultimately joined as a doctor at a
salary ranging between ` 16,000/- per month to ` 25,000/- per
month. Thus, the average monthly income of the deceased was
taken as ` 18,000/- and after adding 50% towards future
prospects, the compensation was enhanced to ` 21,36,000/-.
8. In Ramesh Chand Joshi v. New India Assurance Company MAC
APP.212-213/2006 decided on 20.01.2010 this Court took the
potential income of a BE (Bio-Technology) First year student
of Delhi College of Engineer (DCE) ` 38,333/- per month.
9. B.Sc.(Computers) is a hot selling course and if done from a
prestigious institution like Delhi University, it has very good
potential. Instead of going by mere speculation as to the
placement in the private sector; I would go by the salary which
a person can earn in a Government sector with this
qualification. The gross salary of an Assistant Programmer
having such educational qualification with a basic pay of `
9,500/- as on the date of the accident would be about ` 15,000/.
Therefore, I take potential income of the deceased to be about
`15,000/- per month.
10. The deceased's father Vipin Kumar Marwah also died in the
same accident. The deceased left behind a widowed mother
and a young unmarried sister. In the circumstances, I would
deduct 1/3rd towards the personal and living expenses to
compute the loss of dependency. The Appellant (deceased's
mother) was aged 47 years on the date of the accident. The
loss of dependency thus comes to ` 15,60,000/-(` 15,000 X 2/3
X 12 X 13).
11. I further award a sum of ` 25,000/- towards loss of love and
affection and ` 10,000/- each towards loss to estate and funeral
expenses.
12. The overall compensation is thus enhanced from ` 4,20,000/- to
` 16,05,000/-.
13. The enhanced compensation of `11,85,000/- shall carry interest
@ 7.5% per annum from the date of the filing of the Petition
till its deposit. The Respondent Insurance Company is directed
to deposit the enhanced amount along with interest in the UCO
Bank, Delhi High Court Branch within six weeks.
14. 70% of the enhanced amount shall go to the First Appellant and
30% to the Second Appellant. 50% of the compensation
awarded to each of the Appellant shall be released. Rest of the
amount shall be held in Fixed Deposit for a period of two
years, four years and six years in equal proportion.
15. The Appeal is allowed in above terms.
(G.P. MITTAL)
JUDGE
MAY 17, 2012
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