Gujarat High Court
Oriental Insruance Company Ltd vs Rameshbhai Soniyabhai Vilaat on 6 February, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/FA/4332/2018 ORDER DATED: 06/02/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 4332 of 2018
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ORIENTAL INSRUANCE COMPANY LTD
Versus
RAMESHBHAI SONIYABHAI VILAAT & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR RITURAJ M MEENA(3224) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR AMIT N PATEL(2749) for the Defendant(s) No. 1,2
RULE SERVED for the Defendant(s) No. 4
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI
Date : 06/02/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. The present First Appeal, under Section 173 of Motor
Vehicles Act, 1988, is preferred by the appellant being aggrieved
and dissatisfied with the judgment and award dated 12.5.2017
passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Valsad in Motor
Accident Claim Petition No.245 o 2013.
2. Heard learned advocate Mr. Meena for the appellant and
learned advocate Mr. Amit Patel for the respondent Nos.1 and 2.
3. The solitary contention raised in the appeal is that the
learned Tribunal committed serious error in taking up income of
the deceased to Rs.3000/- per month. He would further submit
that the deceased was 15 years 06 months and 08 days old at
the time of road accident. There is no any iota of evidence on the
record to indicate that he was earning Rs.3000/- per month and
in that circumstances, adoption of Rs.3000/- per month as
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C/FA/4332/2018 ORDER DATED: 06/02/2025
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income of the deceased is excessive and exorbitant. The learned
Tribunal ought to have taken up Rs.15000/- as notional income
and to calculate the compensation u/s 163A of the MV Act as
the claim petition was filed under the said provision. Mainly
upon above submission, learned advocate Mr. Meena submits to
allow this appeal and to recompute the compensation.
4. As against above pleadings, learned advocate Mr. Amit
Patel for the respondent Nos.1 and 2 made two fold submission.
He would further submit that the deceased was coming from
poor family and to help his family, the deceased was though
minor aging 15 years old, was on a cash job working as labourer
in the factory producing and manufacturing ball pens and
therefore, there is no error on the part of the learned Tribunal to
take up Rs.3000/- as monthly income of the deceased.
Secondly, he would submit that in case of Lata Wadhwa And
Others Vs. State Of Bihar And Others, 2001 8 SCC 197, the
Hon'ble Apex Court in a case which was decided that earlier to
the present incident, adopted Rs.3000/- as income in absence of
any evidence and therefore, there is no reason not to believe that
the deceased was not earning Rs.3000/- on the date of the
accident. Upon above submission, he prays to dismiss the First
Appeal.
5. What could be noticed from the facts of the case that minor
Pravinbhai, on fateful day of the accident, after attending his job
work in the factory returning back to his home riding bicycle,
was dashed by tempo bearing registration No.GJ 15 X 8714
ridden rashly and negligently at an excessive speed by its driver.
The impact of the accident was such that Pravinbhai died on the
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spot.
6. The parents of the deceased filed application u/s 163A of
the MV Act to claim compensation. The learned Tribunal though
has not referred to the judgment in case of Lata Wadhwa (supra),
but adopted Rs.3000/- per month of the deceased aging 15 years
on the date of the accident and granted compensation upon the
structure formula in view of judgment of Lata Wadhwa (supra) as
well as recent judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in case of
Meena Devi Versus Nunu Chand Mahto @ Nemchand Mahto,
2023 (1) SCC 204. Thus, according to this Court, the learned
Tribunal has committed no error and the First Appeal deserves
fate of dismissal.
7. Resultantly, present First Appeal fails and stands
dismissed.
7.1 To be noted that this Court on 21.1.2025 passed order in
CA No.1 of 2024 to disburse the amount of compensation as per
order passed by the learned Tribunal. However, since the main
First Appeal is disposed of, aforestated order dated 21.1.2025 is
merged with the present order.
7.2 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.
7.3 While making the payment, the Tribunal shall deduct the
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C/FA/4332/2018 ORDER DATED: 06/02/2025
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courts fees, if not paid, in accordance with rules/law.
7.4 Record and proceedings be sent back to the concerned
Tribunal, forthwith.
(J. C. DOSHI,J)
SHEKHAR P. BARVE
