Jharkhand High Court
Sumi Orain vs Divisional Manager on 29 June, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
M.A No. 632 of 2016
Sumi Orain .... .... Petitioner(s).
Versus
1. Divisional Manager, National Insurance Company Ltd.
2. Mr. Ramakant Sahay .... .... Respondent(s)
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CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANANDA SEN.
THROUGH : VIDEO CONFERENCING
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FOR THE PETITIONER(S) : Mr. Nikhil Ranjan, Advocate
FOR THE RESPONDENT(S) : Mr. Manish Kumar, Advocate
Mr. Shashi Shekhar Sahay, Advocate
Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Sahay, Advocate
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07/29.06.2021
Heard learned counsel for the parties.
By filing this appeal, the claimant claims for enhancing the amount of
compensation which has been awarded to them on account of death of Bijay
Oraon who happened to be the son of claimants/appellant on the account of motor
vehicle accident.
Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant submits that the prayer of the
appellant is limited. He submits that there is no dispute in respect of the accident
and the fact that vehicle was insured by the insurer and because of the offending
vehicle bearing JH 01N 7767 the accident had taken place. He further submits that
there is no dispute in respect of dependency nor in respect of the income of the
deceased or the multiplier. He only submits that future prospect has not been
considered by the tribunal while awarding compensation. Further only a sum of
of Rs. 10,000/- has been awarded on account of funeral expenses and other non-
pecuniary damages, which according to him should be Rs.70,000/- as per the
judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of National Insurance
Company Limited Vrs. Pranay Sethi & Ors. reported in (2017) 16 SCC 680. He
submits that the deceased was admittedly aged about 19 years and thus 40%
should have been enhanced on account of future prospects.
Mr. Manish Kumar, Advocate submits that the future prospects has not
been granted in this case and he admits that Insurance Company has not filed any
appeal against the said award.
Counsel appearing on behalf of owner of the vehicle submits that the
tribunal has wrongly given the right to recover the amount from the owner of the
vehicle rather it was Insurance Company who should have been vested with the
liability. He on query admits that owner has not challenged the direction of the
tribunal by which the Tribunal had directed the Insurance Company to recover the
amount from the owner.
After hearing the parties, I find the fact that the motor vehicle accident had
taken place, which resulted in death of Bijay Oraon, son of the appellant, is not
disputed. It is also not disputed that vehicle bearing Registration No. JH 01N 7767
met with an accident resulting in his death. It is also not disputed that deceased
was working as Carpenter. The income assessed by the tribunal is Rs. 5000/- per
month is also not disputed by any of the parties. The tribunal applied the multiplier
of 18, which according to this Court is correct multiplier. The tribunal deducted
half from the aforesaid amount on account of dependency which is also correct.
The factum of insurance was also not denied.
The only dispute is in respect of future prospect and the compensation on
account of non-pecuniary damages that is loss of estate, loss of consortium and
Funeral expenses. Admittedly, no future prospects has been considered in this
case. In terms of the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case
of National Insurance Company Limited(Supra), 40% of the amount assessed
should be added for future prospects. The 40% of Rs. 5,40,000/- comes to Rs
2,16,000/-. Further Rs. 60,000/- has to be added for non-pecuniary damages (as
Rs 10,000/- has already been earlier awarded). Thus the total amount which is
assessed is Rs 2,76,000/-. This court feels that amount of compensation should be
enhanced for further amount of Rs. 2, 76,000/-. The aforesaid amount should be
paid within two months from today to the claimants. It is made clear that right of
recovery granted by the Tribunal is not disturbed.
Accordingly, the instant application stands allowed to the aforesaid extent.
(ANANDA SEN , J)
anjali/ C.P 3
