Karnataka High Court
The Divisional Manager vs Sri.Bandenawaj S/O Umar on 7 March, 2022
Bench: N.S.Sanjay Gowda
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA
DHARWAD BENCH
DATED THIS THE 7 T H DAY OF MARCH, 2022
BEFORE
THE HON 'BLE MR.JUSTICE N .S.SANJAY GOWDA
M.F.A.No.101916/2018
c/w
M.F.A.No.101917/2018 (MVC)
IN M.F.A.No.101916/2018
BETWEEN:
THE DIVISIONAL MANAGER,
ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO.LTD.,
NEAR SANGOLLI RAYANNA CIRCLE,
JAMKHANDI ROAD, MUDHOL,
DIST:BAGALKOT, PIN CODE:587301,
REPRESENTED BY ITS
DEPUTY MANAGER. ... APPELLANT
(BY SMT.PREETI SHASHANK, ADV.)
AND:
1. SRI.BANDENAWAJ,
S/O UMAR @ UMARSAB KANKANAWADI,
AGE:36 YEARS, OCC:COOLIE,
2. SMT.MEENAJ,
W/O BANDENAWAJ KANKANAWADI
AGE:27 YEARS, OCC:HOUSEWIFE(COOLIE)
BOTH ARE R/O AWATI GALLI,
JAMKHANDI, TQ:JAMAKHANDI,
DIST:BAGALKOT, PINCODE:587301.
3. THE PRABHULINGESHWAR SUGARS
AND CHEMICALS LTD,
A/P:SIDDAPUR, TQ:JAMAKHANDI,
:2:
DIST:BAGALKOT, PINCODE:587301. ... RESPONDENTS
(BY SHRI SIDDAPPA S.SAJJAN, ADV. FOR R1 AND R2,
R3- NOTICE DISPENSED WITH)
THIS MFA FILED U/S.173(1) OF MV ACT, 1988, AGAINST
THE JUDGMENT AND AWARD DATED 30.01.2018 PASSED IN
MVC NO.298/2017 ON THE FILE OF THE PRINCIPAL SENIOR
CIVIL JUDGE AND JMFC., AND MEMBER, MOTOR ACCIDENT
CLAIMS TRIBUNAL-V, JAMKHANDI, AWARDING COMPENSATION
OF Rs.05,00,000/-WITH INTEREST AT 9% P.A. FROM THE DATE
OF PETITION TILL THE DATE OF DEPOSIT.
IN M.F.A.No.101917/2018
BETWEEN:
THE DIVISIONAL MANAGER,
ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.,
NEAR SANGOLLI RAYANNA CIRCLE,
JAMKHANDI ROAD, MUDHOL,
DIST BAGALKOT, PIN CODE:587301,
REPRESENTED BY ITS
DEPUTY MANAGER. ... APPELLANT
(BY SMT PREETI SHASHANK, ADV.)
AND
1. SRI.BANDENAWAJ,
S/O UMAR @ UMARSAB KANKANAWADI,
AGE:36 YEARS, OCC:COOLIE
2. SMT.MEENAJ,
W/O BANDENAWAJ KANKANAWADI,
AGE:27 YEARS, OCC:HOUSEWIFE (COOLIE),
BOTH ARE R/O:AWATI GALLI,
JAMKHANDI, TQ:JAMAKHANDI,
DIST:BAGALKOT, PINCODE:587301.
3. THE PRABHULINGESHWAR SUGARS
AND CHEMICALS LTD,
A/P:SIDDAPUR, TQ:JAMAKHANDI,
DIST:BAGALKOT,
:3:
PINCODE:587301. .. RESPONDENTS
(BY SHRI SIDDAPPA S.SAJJAN, ADV. FOR R1 AND R2,
R3- NOTICE DISPENSED WITH)
THIS MFA FILED U/S.173(1) OF MV ACT, 1988, AGAINST
THE JUDGMENT AND AWARD DATED 30.01.2018 PASSED IN
MVC NO.299/2017 ON THE FILE OF THE PRINCIPAL SENIOR
CIVIL JUDGE AND JMFC., AND MEMBER, MOTOR ACCIDENT
CLAIMS TRIBUNAL-V, JAMKHANDI, AWARDING COMPENSATION
OF Rs.05,00,000/-WITH INTEREST AT 9% P.A. FROM THE DATE
OF PETITION TILL THE DATE OF DEPOSIT.
THESE APPEALS COMING ON FOR ADMISSION, THIS
DAY, THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
JUDGMENT
For the death of Enayatulla and Sadhiya,
ag ed about 6 and 4 years respectively, their
parents Bandenawaj and Meenaj, filed two claim
petitions.
2. The fact that an accid ent occurred
resulting in the death of minor child ren is not in
dispute. The fact that the Insurance Comp any was
liable to p ay compensation is also not in disp ute.
The Tribunal by the impugned award has award ed
a compensation of Rs.5,00,000/- for the d eath of
Enayatulla and Rs.5,00,000/- for the d eath of
Sadhiya.
3. The Insurance Comp any, being
agg rieved has p referred these ap peals.
4. Learned counsel for the ap pellant
Smt.Preethi Shashank, contends that the
comp ensation award ed in a sum of Rs.5,00,000/-
is unsustainab le in the light of the decisions
rendered by the division b enches of this Court in
M.F.A.No.21210/2013 and connected matters
decided on 08.03.2018 and M.F.A.No.100303/2016
decided on 14.01.2019 resp ectively. Accord ing to
her, only a sum of Rs.2,75,000/- could have been
award ed by the Tribunal and the sum of
Rs.5,00,000/- award ed cannot b e sustained.
5. Learned counsel for the claimants on
the other hand relied upon the recent decision of
the Hon'ble Ap ex Court rend ered in the case of
KURVAN ANSARI ALIAS KUR VAN ALI AND
ANOTHER VS. SHYAM KISHORE MURMU AND
ANOTHER in Civil Appeal No.6902/2021
decided on 16.11.2021, to contend that the
Hon'b le Apex Court has d eprecated the app lication
of Rs.15,000/- p .a. indicated in Schedule-II and
has adopted a sum of Rs.25,000/- p.a. and
applied the multiplier of 15 and thus, award ed a
sum of Rs.3,75,000/- towards loss of dep endency.
He submits that the said decision may be applied
and compensation b e award ed according ly.
6. The Hon'ble Ap ex Court after review of
the case law has stated as follows:
13. In the case of R.K. Malik & A nr. also,
this Court has observed that the
notio nal income fixed un der Section
163-A of the Motor Vehic les Act,
1988 as Rs.15,000/- per annum s hould be
enhance d and increased as the same
continued to ex ist without any am endm ent
since 14.11.1 994. In the case of Kishan
Gopa l & Anr. where the deceased was
a ten years old child, t his Court has
fixed his notional incom e a t Rs.30,000/ -
per annum.
14. In this case, it is to be noted t hat the
accident was on 06.09.2004. In spite
of repea ted directions, Schedule- II is
not yet am ended. Therefore, fixing
notio nal income at Rs.15,000/- per
annum for non- earn ing mem bers is not
just an d reasonable.
15. In view of the judgments in the cases
in Puttamma& Ors ., R.K. Malik & Anr. and
Kisha n Gopal & A nr., we are of the view
that it is a fit case to inc rease the notional
income by taking into account the inflation,
deva luation of the rupee and cost of liv ing.
In view of the s am e, the judgment in the
case of Rajendra Singh &Ors. relied on by
the learned counsel for respondent No.2-
Insurance Company would not render any
assis tance to the case of the ins urance
company.
16. In view of the above, we deem it
appropriate to take notional income of
the deceased at Rs. 25,000/- (Rupees
twen ty five thousand only) per
annum . Accord ingly, when the notional
income is m ultiplied with applicable
multiplier '15', as prescribed in
Schedule-II for the claims under Section
163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988,
it comes to Rs.3,75, 000/-(Rs.25,000/-
x Multiplie r 15) towards loss of
dependency. The appellants are also
entitled to a sum of Rs.40,000/- each
towa rds filial consort ium and
Rs.15,0 00/- towards funeral ex penses.
Thus, the appellants are entitl ed to
the following am ounts towards
compensation:
(a ) Los s of D ep end e nc y : Rs . 3 ,7 5 ,0 00 - 00
(b ) F il ia l Co ns o rt iu m : Rs . 8 0 ,0 00 -00
(Rs .40 ,0 00 /- x 2 )
(c ) F un era l E xp ens es : Rs . 15 ,0 00 -0 0
T ota l Rs . 4 ,70 ,0 0 0 -0 0
7. In my view, the said ratio would apply
squarely to the facts of this case and in the light
of this decision, the claimants would be entitled to
a sum of Rs.3,75,000/- for the d eath of Enayatulla
and a sum of Rs.3,75,000/- for the d eath of
Sadhiya.
8. In add ition, the claimants b eing the
parents would also be entitled to a sum of
Rs.88,000/- per child towards filial consortium
and also a sum of Rs.16,500/- towards funeral
exp enses and Rs.16,500/- toward s loss of estate
for each of the child .
9. Hence, the claimants are entitled to the
modified award which read s as under:
Sl. Heads Modified Award Modified Award
No. In In
M.F.A.No.101916/2018 M.F.A.No.101917/20
1 Towards loss of
dependency Rs. 3,75,000 /- Rs.3,75,000 /-
2 Towards filial
consortium to Rs. 88,000/- Rs. 88,000/-
both the parents
3 Towards funeral
expenses Rs. 16,500/- Rs. 16,500/-
4 Towards loss of
estate Rs. 16,500/- Rs. 16,500/-
Total Rs.4,96,000/- Rs.4,96,500/-
10. Thus, the claimants are entitled for total
compensation of Rs.4,96,000/- in both the appeals as
against the sum of Rs.5,00,000/- awarded by the Tribunal.
11. In view of the above, I pass the following:
ORDER
(i) The appeals are allowed in part,
(ii) The Judgment and Award dated
30.01.2018 passed in MVC
Nos.298/2017 and 299/2017, on
the file of the Principal Senior Civil
Judge and Member, MACT-V,
Jamkhandi, is hereby modified. The
claimants are entitled to a total
compensation of Rs.4,96,000/- as
against Rs.5,00,000/- awarded by
the Tribunal in both the appeals
with interest @ 6% p.a. from the
date of claim petition till the date of
deposit,
(iii) The Insurance Company to deposit
the compensation amount after
deducting the compensation
already paid along with interest
before the Tribunal within a period
of 90 days from the date of receipt
of certified copy of this judgment,
(iv) The amount awarded shall be
disbursed in the same terms as
that imposed by the Tribunal.
(SD/-)
JUDGE
Jm/-
