Delhi High Court
K L Jadhav & Anr vs Abhishek Kumar & Ors (New India ... on 5 April, 2018
$~26
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
% Date of Decision: 05th April, 2018
+ MAC.APP. 94/2018
K L JADHAV & ANR ..... Appellants
Through: Mr. Bhupesh Narula, Mr. Yogesh
Kumar Narula, Advocates.
versus
ABHISHEK KUMAR & ORS
(NEW INDIA ASSURNACE CO LTD) ..... Respondents
Through: Ms. Archana Gaur, Advocate for New
India Assurance Co. Ltd.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.R. MIDHA
JUDGMENT (ORAL)
1. The appellants have challenged the award of the Claims Tribunal
whereby compensation of Rs.40,57,375/- has been awarded to the
appellants.
2. The accident dated 2nd September, 2015 resulted in the death of Anish
Kishor Jadhav. The deceased was aged 25 years at the time of the accident
and was survived by his parents who filed the claim petition before the
Claims tribunal. The deceased was working as Executive - Sales and
Technical Support with M/s Nikon India Pvt. Ltd. at a salary of Rs.5 lakh
per annum.
3. The Claims Tribunal took the income of the deceased as Rs.4,61,500/-
per annum after deducting Medical Reimbursement and Income tax. The
Claims Tribunal added 50% towards future prospects, deducted 50%
towards personal expenses and applied the multiplier of 11 according to the
age of the mother to compute the loss of dependency as Rs.38,07,375/-. The
Claims Tribunal awarded Rs.1,50,000/- towards loss of love and affection,
Rs.50,000/- towards loss of estate and Rs.50,000/- towards funeral expenses.
The total compensation awarded is Rs.40,57,375/-.
4. Learned counsel for the appellant urged at the time of the hearing that
the Claims Tribunal has applied the multiplier of 11 whereas the appropriate
multiplier according to the age of the deceased is 18. It is submitted that the
multiplier ought to be taken as per the age of the deceased and not as per the
age of the mother. It is further submitted that Claims Tribunal has wrongly
deducted the Medical Reimbursement amount from the salary of the
deceased. It is submitted that Rs.23,500/- has been wrongly deducted as
Income Tax from the salary of the deceased as no Income Tax was
deductible on the income of the deceased after considering the standard
deductions and exemptions.
5. Learned counsel for the respondent submits that the non-pecuniary
compensation be reduced according to National Insurance Company
Limited v. Pranay Sethi, 2017 SCC OnLine SC 1270.
6. There is merit in the appellant's contention that the medical
reimbursement amount of Rs.15,000/- should be included in the income of
the deceased. The deduction of medical reimbursement of Rs.15,000/- is,
therefore, set aside and the income of the deceased is taken as Rs.5 lakh per
annum. The Claims Tribunal has deducted Rs.23,500/- as Income Tax on
the income of Rs.5 lakh. However, the Claims Tribunal has not taken into
consideration the standard deductions and the exemption of PPF, HRA and
medical reimbursement amount while computing the Income Tax. This
Court is of the view that the Income Tax of Rs.5068/- would be deducted
from the Income of the deceased after taking into consideration the standard
deductions and exemptions in respect of PPF, HRA and medical
reimbursements. The income of the deceased is taken as Rs.4,94,932/-
(Rs.5,00,000/- - Rs.5068/-) per annum. The addition of 50% towards future
prospects and 50% towards personal expenses by the Claims Tribunal is
upheld. The Claims Tribunal has applied the multiplier of 11 whereas the
appropriate multiplier according to the age of the deceased is 18 in terms of
Pranay Sethi (supra). The multiplier is, therefore, enhanced from 11 to 18.
Taking the income of the deceased as Rs.4,94,932/- per annum, adding 50%
future prospects, deducting ½ towards personal expenses and applying the
multiplier of 18, the loss of dependency is computed as Rs.66,81,582/-. The
non-pecuniary compensation of Rs.1,50,000/- towards loss of love and
affection is set aside and compensation of Rs.50,000/- towards loss of estate
and Rs.50,000/- towards funeral expenses are reduced to Rs.15,000/-
towards loss of estate and Rs.15,000/- towards funeral expenses
respectively. The appellant is entitled to total compensation of
Rs.67,11,582/-.
7. The appeal is allowed and the compensation amount of Rs.40,57,375/-
awarded by the Claims Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.67,11,582/- along with
interest @ 9% per annum.
8. The appellant is directed to deposit the enhanced compensation
amount with the Registrar General of this Court within three weeks.
9. List for disbursement on 04th May, 2018.
10. The appellants shall produce the copy of the passbooks along with the
necessary endorsement in terms of the order dated 23rd January, 2018 on the
next date of hearing.
11. Copy of this judgment be given dasti to learned counsels for the
parties under signature of Court Master.
APRIL 05, 2018 J.R. MIDHA, J.
dk/rsk
