The Oriental Insurance Company ... vs Chandan Kumar Singh
2021 Latest Caselaw 2942 Jhar

          IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
                  [Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction]
                          M.A. No. 485 of 2018
        The Oriental Insurance Company Limited .... .. ...              Appellant(s)
                                     Versus
        1.Chandan Kumar Singh
        2.Arbind Kumar                                       .. ... ... Respondent(s)
                          ...........

CORAM :HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH PRASAD DEO (Through :-Video Conferencing) .........

      For the Appellant(s)            :    Mr. Manish Kumar, Advocate.
                                           Mr. Amit Mishra, Advocate
      For the Respondent(s)           :
                          ..........

04 / 17.08.2021. Heard, learned counsel for the appellant- The Oriental Insurance Company Limited.

Mr. Manish Kumar, learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that the appellant-The Oriental Insurance Company Limited has preferred the instant Misc. Appeal against the Award dated 22.11.2017 passed by learned Principal District Judge-cum- Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Godda, in Claim Case No.46 of 2015 whereby, the claimant, namely, Chandan Kumar Singh has been awarded compensation to the tune of Rs.9,89,940/- after deducting Rs.50,000/- which has already been paid under Section 140 of the M. V. Act, as such, the balance compensation amount of Rs.9,39,940/- shall be paid to the claimant within one month and if the the same is not paid within stipulated period of one month, the claimant shall be at liberty to get it recovered through the process of the Tribunal with interest @7% per annum on the awarded amount from the due date and till its realization.

Mr. Manish Kumar, learned counsel for the Insurance Company has submitted that there is delay of 170 days in preferring the instant Misc. Appeal by the appellant- Insurance Company and for condonation of the same, I.A. No.7435 of 2018 has been preferred, as such, the same may be condoned.

Mr. Manish Kumar, learned counsel for the Insurance Company has further submitted that deceased (Dilip Kumar Singh) was working as Khalasi on Truck bearing Registration No.BR-11D- 4752 duly insured before the appellant- Oriental Insurance Company Limited vide Policy No.332600/31/2015/643 valid for the period from 26.05.2014 to mid-night of 25.05.2015, whereas the accident took place on 14.05.2015 due to rash and negligent driving, the steering of the offending vehicle failed and dashed against the tree and truck capsized in the field. The deceased left behind his son, namely, Chandan Kumar Singh and wife of the deceased had already pre-deceased him. The learned Tribunal has granted compensation considering the income of the

deceased, who lost his life at the age of 40 years, as Rs.8,000/- per month,

Mr. Manish Kumar, learned counsel for the Insurance Company has further submitted that consideration of income of the deceased (Dilip Kumar Singh) by the learned Tribunal to the tune of Rs.8,000/- per month is exorbitantly high as the accident is of the year 2015 and in absence of any documentary evidence, the learned Tribunal ought to have considered such income to be of Rs.3,000/- per month as the notional income, as such, considering the same, the impugned Award/judgment may be set aside.

Considering the submissions of learned counsel for the appellant and having gone through the materials on record including the impugned judgment, it appears that occurrence is of dated 14.05.2015, the learned Tribunal has rightly considered the income of the deceased, as Rs.8,000/- per month in absence of any documentary evidence, who lost his life at the age of about 40 years, in view of the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of Chameli Devi & Ors. vs. Jivrail Mian & Ors., reported in 2019 (4) TAC 724 SC wherein the Apex Court in absence of any documentary evidence has considered the income of deceased, who was a carpenter and lost his life on 02.01.2001 to be Rs.5,000/- per month.

After going through the impugned Award, it further appears that Future Prospect of the deceased has not been considered by the learned Tribunal as well as loss of consortium to the tune of Rs.40,000/- has not been granted by the learned Tribunal in view of the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of National Insurance Company Ltd. vs, Pranay Sethi & Ors., reported in (2017) 16 SCC 680 at Para 59.8 though no appeal has been preferred by the claimant, as such, considering the compensation to be just and fair compensation, this Court is not inclined to interfere with the impugned Award.

Accordingly, the instant Misc. Appeal stands dismissed.

The statutory amount deposited by appellant- Insurance Company before this Court at the time of the filing of the appeal shall be remitted to the learned Tribunal by the learned Registrar General of this Court, within a period of four weeks from today so as to indemnify the part of the compensation to the claimant after due notice and verification.

However, the balance amount of compensation shall be indemnified by the appellant- Insurance Company within a reasonable time, as the accident is of dated 14.05.2015.

I.A. No.7435 of 2018 stands closed.

Sandeep/                                                   (Kailash Prasad Deo, J.)