Reliance General Insurance Co. ... vs Poonam Kumari
2021 Latest Caselaw 2319 Jhar

            IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
                  (Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction)
                            M.A. No. 546 of 2018
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Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. ....... Appellant Versus

1.Poonam Kumari, W/o Late Kamal Kishor Rai,

2.Priyaranjan Kumar, S/o Late Kamal Kishor Rai,

3. Sneha Suman, D/o Late Kamal Kishor Rai, at present Resident of Master Colony, P.O. Govindpur, P.S. Govindpur, District- Dhanbad, Jharkhand

4. Shubham Kumar, W/o Sanjay Singh ......Respondents ..........

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

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      For the Appellant        : Mr. Amit Kumar Das, Advocate
      For the Respondents      :

05/Dated: 13/07/2021.

Heard, learned counsel for the appellant- Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd., Mr. Amit Kumar Das.

Appellant- Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. has preferred this appeal against the award dated 21.07.2018, passed by learned District Judge-VIII-cum-Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Dhanbad, in Motor Accident Claim Case No.329 of 2016, whereby the claimants, namely,

1.Poonam Kumari, 2.Priyaranjan Kumar and 3.Sneha Suman have been awarded compensation to the tune of Rs.49,44,166/- along with interest @ 6% annum from the date of filing of the claim application i.e. on 06.10.2016 till its realization.

Learned counsel for the appellant- Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd., Mr. Amit Kumar Das has assailed the impugned award on the ground that the deceased- Kamal Kishor Rai died in a motor accident on 30.08.2016 and on that day he was getting a actual salary, less than what has been considered by the learned Tribunal on the basis of recommendation of 7th Pay Commission made effective from 01.01.2016, as such, computation of compensation, has not been done by the learned Tribunal properly.

To buttress his argument, learned counsel for the appellant, Mr. Amit Kumar Das has further submitted, that such eventuality has been considered under the column of future prospect where the deceased was granted 15% future prospect, as such, notice may be issued to the

claimants.

This Court is appointing Mr. Manish Kumar as Amicus Curiae to assist this Court.

Appellant is directed to serve one copy of memo of appeal along with impugned order to the learned counsel, Mr. Manish Kumar though he has submitted that computation does not require any interference at this stage as after acceptance of the recommendation of fitment committee of the 7 th pay Revision, benefits shall be granted to the employee with effective from 01.01.2016 and the amount of arrear shall be paid, but in a Motor Claim Accident, if the income is considered less as because the benefit was not actually given to the person though he was entitled on the date of accident, the Motor Vehicle Claim Tribunal has rightly taken note of such situation in a benevolent legislation. The fruits of legislation cannot be denied. As such, this impugned Award does not require any interference by this Court. However, the interest has been awarded on the lower side @ 6% per annum which ought to have been @7.5% per annum, in view of the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of of Dharampal & Sons Vs. U.P. State Road Transport Corporation, reported in (2008) 4 JCR 79 SC.

Since it is a debatable question which has to be adjudicated by the Court after hearing the counsel for the claimants, as such, let notice be issued to the claimants, 1.Poonam Kumari, W/o Late Kamal Kishor Rai,

2.Priyaranjan Kumar, S/o Late Kamal Kishor Rai, and 3. Sneha Suman, D/o Late Kamal Kishor Rai, at present Resident of Master Colony, P.O. Govindpur, P.S. Govindpur, District- Dhanbad, Jharkhand, under both process i.e. under registered cover with A/D as well as under ordinary process for which requisites etc. must be filed within a period of two weeks.

In the meantime, appellant- Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. is directed to deposit a sum of Rs.35 lacs before the learned Tribunal/Executing Court and to that effect file an affidavit before this Court within 60 days.

Learned Tribunal/Executing Court shall issue notice to the claimants

and after taking an affidavit that they have already appeared in the present Miscellaneous Appeal i.e. M.A. No.546 of 2018, pending before this Court, the amount of Rs.35 lacs shall be disbursed to the claimants. Put up this case after service of notice.

Let the name of learned counsel, Mr. Manish Kumar be reflected in the cause-list as Amicus Curiae.

(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.)

R.S.-