Gujarat High Court

Dayalal Laxmichand Sanghvi ... vs Manojkumar Vallabhdas Khakhariya ... on 20 November, 2024

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                              C/FA/2329/2008                                  ORDER DATED: 20/11/2024

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                                 IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

                                               R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 2329 of 2008
                                                            With
                                               R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 2330 of 2008
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                             DAYALAL LAXMICHAND SANGHVI (DECD)THR'HEIRS & ORS.
                                                  Versus
                            MANOJKUMAR VALLABHDAS KHAKHARIYA DELELTED & ORS.
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                       Appearance:
                       MR YN RAVANI(718) for the Appellant(s) No. 1,1.1,1.2,1.3
                       DELETED for the Defendant(s) No. 1,4
                       MR NAGESH C SOOD(1928) for the Defendant(s) No. 2
                       UNSERVED EXPIRED (R) for the Defendant(s) No. 3
                       ==========================================================

                         CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI

                                                            Date : 20/11/2024
                                                          COMMON ORAL ORDER

1. As both the first appeals arise out of the same road accident, with the consent of learned advocates for the parties, they are being heard and decided by this common order.

2. The present First Appeals, under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, are preferred by the appellants - original claimants being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the common judgment and award dated 30.09.2006 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Auxi.), F.T.C. No.4, Jamnagar in Motor Accident Claim Petition Nos.422 of 1997 and 423 of 1997.

2. Brief facts of the case are as under:

2.1 The brief fact of the present appeal is such that on 11.03.1997, the deceased of both claim petitions were coming in Maruti Van No.GJ-1-R-5680 on account of maarriage ceremony

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from Ahmedabad to Jamnagar and when they reached near villge Dhunvav at about 6.30 am, at that time, driver of truck No.GTP-

7036 came in rash and negligent manner and collided with the Maruti wherein the deceased were travelling. Due to the said road accident, both the deceased claimants received severe injuries and they succumed to the said injury.

3. Heard learned advocates for the respective parties.

3.1 The sum and substance of the arguments canvassed by learned advocate Mr.Ravani is that learned Tribunal has not computed compensation as per the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in case of National Insurance Company Limited vs. Pranay Sethi - 2017 (16) SCC 680. He would further submit that in one claim petition, the deceased was tax payer and claimants have produced his income tax returns at Exhibit-62, but learned Tribunal did not consider the documentary evidence which the learned Tribunal was required to do. Upon above submissions, he submits to recompute the compensation and grant the same to the claimants.

4. On the other hand, learned advocate Mr.Nagesh Sood appearing for the Insurance Company would support the impugned judgment and award and submits not to disturb the findings arrived at by the learned Tribunal.

5. Apt to note that the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 is a beneficial piece of Legislation. The concept of just and fair compensation is integral and seminal to the MV Act. The compensation to be

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awarded under the principle of just and fair compensation to the injured of the road accident or the legal representative/s of the deceased person is based on the principle of fairness, reasonableness and equability. Anguish of the heart or for mental turbulence being consequential result of the road accident cannot be actually compensated, but the quint essentiality lies in adopting holistic and pragmatic view to the computation of the compensation for the loss sustained, which is to be in the realm of realistic approximation. Although exact or perfect arithmetical calculation of compensation for reparation of the loss arrived from the road accident is almost impossible. The Tribunal is bestowed with duty to make an endevour to award just compensation regardless of the amount claimed by the claimants. The determination of the quantum of compensation therefore, must be liberal and not niggardly since the law values life and limb in a free country in generous scale. Needless to state that money may be awarded, so that something tangible may be procured to reach something else of the like nature, which has been destroyed or lost, but money cannot renew physical frame that has been battered and shattered being a result of the road accident. Yet Tribunal to endavour to bring back victim to stage of pre-road accident as far as possible Thus, the award must be reasonable and cannot be assessed with moderation though it cannot at the same time be pity and what could be granted must be just, fair and equitable compensation.

6. At the outset, it could be drawn from the impugned judgment and award that learned Tribunal has not followed the ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in case of Pranay

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Sethi (supra) while computing and granting compensation under the conventional head. As far as claim that the deceased was paying income tax is concerned, learned Tribunal has not taken into consideration the income tax returns at Exhibit-62. The Hon'ble Apex Court in case of Smt. Anjali and others vs. Lokendra Rathod and others - 2023 (3) GLR 1617 SC, held that the income tax return is statutory evidence and it is required to be relied upon while taking multiplier to compute the dependency loss.

6. In view of the above submissions and findings, the appeals deserve consideration. The compensation which was granted by the learned Tribunal is requires to be enhanced by recalculating as under :

RE-COMPUTATION IN FIRST APPEAL NO.2329 OF 2008 :

                                               Particulars                 Amount (Rs.)          Amount
                                                                           awarded by           (Rs.) to be
                                                                           Ld. Tribunal          awarded
                            Future dependency Loss                           3,30,000/-           2,64,096/-
                            =Rs.2500 + 250 (10% rise)
                            =Rs.2750 minus 1/3 for personal
                            expenses x 12 months x 12 multiplier
                            =Rs.2,68,096/-
                            Loss of consortium (Rs.48,400/- x 3                10,000/-           1,45,200/-
                            persons)
                            Transportation charges                              3,000/-                -
                            Loss of Estate                                      --                  18,150/-
                            Funeral Expenses                                    5,000/-             18,150/-
                            Total                                            3,48,000/-           4,45,596/-
                            Less: Compensation already awarded                  --                3,48,000/-
                            Additional amount to be awarded                     --                  97,596/-






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                              C/FA/2329/2008                                   ORDER DATED: 20/11/2024

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RE-COMPUTATION IN FIRST APPEAL NO.2330 OF 2008 :

                                               Particulars                 Amount (Rs.)          Amount
                                                                           awarded by           (Rs.) to be
                                                                           Ld. Tribunal          awarded
                            Future dependency Loss                           1,60,000/-           2,08,107/-
                            =Rs.50,450 p.a. + 5,045 (10% rise)
                            =Rs.55,495 p.a. minus 1/4 for
                            personal expenses x 5 multiplier
                            =Rs.2,68,096/-
                            Loss of consortium (Rs.48,400/- x 4                10,000/-           1,93,600/-
                            persons)
                            Transportation charges                              3,000/-                -
                            Loss of Estate                                      --                  18,150/-
                            Funeral Expenses                                    5,000/-             18,150/-
                            Total                                            1,78,000/-           4,38,007/-
                            Less: Compensation already awarded                  --                1,78,000/-
                            Additional amount to be awarded                     --               2,60,007/-

7. Therefore, I hold that the claimants - appellants of First Appeal No.2329 of 2008 are entitled to get the enhanced compensation of Rs.97,596/- with 7.5% p.a. interest from the date of filing the claim petition till its realization, which would meet the ends of justice. Rest of the direction(s) of the Tribunal remain same.

8. Therefore, I hold that the claimants - appellants of First Appeal No.2330 of 2008 are entitled to get the enhanced compensation of Rs.2,60,007/- with 7.5% p.a. interest from the date of filing the claim petition till its realization, which would meet the ends of justice. Rest of the direction(s) of the Tribunal remain same.

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8. For the reasons recorded above, the following order is passed :

8.1 Both the first appeals are partly allowed.

8.2 The respondent - Insurance Company is directed to deposit the enhanced amount with interest as stated herein above, in both appeals, within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of this order.

8.3 The Tribunal shall disburse the entire awarded amount lying in the FDR and/or with the Tribunal, with accrued interest thereon, if any, to the claimants, by account payee cheque / NEFT / RTGS, after proper verification and after following due procedure.