Jharkhand High Court
The United India Insurance Co. Ltd vs Katrina Marandi & Others on 5 March, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction)
M.A. No. 281 of 2020
........
The United India Insurance Co. Ltd. .... ..... Appellant
Versus
Katrina Marandi & Others .... .... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH PRASAD DEO
(Through : Video Conferencing)
............
For the Appellant : Mr. Mukesh Kumar Dubey, Advocate.
For the Respondents :
........
03/05.03.2021.
Heard, learned counsel for the appellant, Mr. Mukesh Kumar
Dubey.
Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that United
India Insurance Company Limited has preferred this appeal against
the award dated 24.06.2020 passed by learned Motor Accident
Claim Tribunal -cum -District Judge-I, Dumka in Motor Accident
Claims Case No.07/2019, whereby under the personal and living
expenses of the deceased, who was unmarried, the deduction has
been made as 1/4th contrary to the judgment passed by the Apex
Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt.) Vrs. Delhi Transport
Corporation reported in (2009) 6 SCC 121 (Paras-31 and 32), which
may be reproduced hereunder:-
"31. Where the deceased was a bachelor and he claimants
are the parents, the deduction follows a different principle.
In regard to bachelors, normally, 50% is deducted as
personal and living expenses, because it is assumed that a
bachelor would tend to spend more on himself. Even
otherwise, there is also the possibility of his getting married
in a short time, in which event the contribution to the
parent(s) and siblings is likely to be cut drastically. Further,
subject to evidence to the contrary, the father is likely to
have his own income and will not be considered as a
dependent and the mother alone will be considered as a
dependent. In the absence of evidence to the contrary,
brothers and sisters will not be considered as dependents,
because they will either be independent and earning, or
married, or be dependent on the father.
32. Thus even if the deceased is survived by parents and
siblings, only the mother would be considered to be a
dependent, and 50% would be treated as the personal and
living expenses of the bachelor and 50% as the contribution
to the family. However, where the family of the bachelor is
large and dependent on the income of the deceased, as in a
case where he has a widowed mother and large number of
younger non-earning sisters or brothers, his personal and
living expenses may be restricted to one-third and
contribution to the family will be taken as two-third."
Learned counsel for the appellant has thus submitted that the
deduction ought to have been 1/3rd instead of 1/4th, as such, notice
may be issued to the claimants.
Considering the same, let notice be issued to the claimants
namely, Katrina Marandi, W/O Pharansis Hembrom and Pharansis
Hembrom, S/o Late Nunwa Hembrom, both resident of village -
Burhasarai, P.O.- Ghoranjee, P.S.- Devri (Bhelwaghati Tilakdih),
District - Giridih Pin No. 815314, 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.
So far I.A. No.5634/2020 is concerned, which has been filed
for the ad-intrim stay of the force of order / award dated 24.06.2020
passed in Motor Accident Claims Case No.07/2019 by learned
Motor Accident Claim Tribunal -cum -District Judge-I, Dumka, the
appellant is directed to deposit the entire compensation amount
along with interest in terms of the award passed by the learned
Tribunal / the learned Executing Court within a period of 60 days
from today. If such amount is deposited and an affidavit to that
effect, is filed before this Court, the learned Tribunal / the Executing
Court shall not proceed in the matter.
Accordingly, I.A. No.5634/2020 is disposed of.
It appears that learned Tribunal has awarded of Rs.
61,49,685/- along with interest @ 7.5% per annum from the date of
filing of the claim application up to the date of payment.
Accordingly, appellant is directed to deposit Rs.40,00,000/- in
one draft and balance amount along with the interest through another
draft. The draft of Rs.40,00,000/- shall be disbursed to the claimants
after due verification. So far another draft of the balance amount
along with interest is concerned, it shall be deposited in the
Nationalized bank by the learned Tribunal / the Execution Court, so
that none of the parties may suffer financial loss during pendency of
the appeal.
(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.)
Jay/-
