Karnataka High Court
Yallamma vs The Managing Director on 7 December, 2023
Author: H.T. Narendra Prasad
Bench: H.T. Narendra Prasad
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NC: 2023:KHC:44447
MFA No. 5036 of 2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 7TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 2023
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE H.T. NARENDRA PRASAD
MISCELLANEOUS FIRST APPEAL NO. 5036 OF 2022 (MV)
BETWEEN:
YALLAMMA
W/O ANJANAPPA
NOW AGED ABOUT 60 YEARS
R/AT NO.25 3RD CROSS
NEAR AMBEDKARNAGAR
MULLUR COLONY, CARMELARAM POST
BANGALORE -560 035.
...APPELLANT
(BY SRI. RANGEGOWDA N R.,ADVOCATE)
AND:
THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
K.S.R.T.C., CENTRAL DIVISION
SHANTHINAGAR
Digitally signed BANGALORE -560 027
by
DHANALAKSHMI ...RESPONDENT
MURTHY
Location: High (BY SRI. ASHOK KUMAR M.,ADVOCATE)
Court of
Karnataka
THIS MFA IS FILED UNDER SECTION 173(1) OF MV ACT
AGAINST THE JUDGMENT AND AWARD DATED 08.04.2022
PASSED IN MVC NO. 3736/2019 ON THE FILE OF THE IX
ADDITIONAL SMALL CAUSES JUDGE, COURT OF SMALL
CAUSES, MEMBER, MACT-7, BENGALURU (SCCH-7), PARTLY
ALLOWING THE CLAIM PETITION FOR COMPENSATION AND
SEEKING ENHANCEMENT OF COMPENSATION.
THIS APPEAL, COMING ON FOR ADMISSION, THIS DAY,
THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
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MFA No. 5036 of 2022
JUDGMENT
This appeal under Section 173(1) of the Motor
Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act', for
short) has been filed by the claimants being aggrieved by
the judgment dated 08.04.2022 passed by the IX ASCJ.
Small Causes and Addl. MACT, Bengaluru (SCCH-7) (for
short 'the Tribunal') in MVC No.3736/2019.
2. Facts giving rise to the filing of the appeal briefly
stated are that on 17.11.2018 at about 12.00 p.m., the
deceased Suresh Babu was proceeding on a two wheeler
bearing registration No.KA-01/HR-5631 near Nattigere
Gate, Kanakapura - Bengaluru main road, Uttarahalli
Hobli, Bangalore. At that time, a KSRTC bus bearing
registration No.KA-42/F-1797 which was being driven in a
rash and negligent manner, dashed against the vehicle of
the deceased. As a result of the aforesaid accident, the
deceased fell down, sustained grievous injuries and
succumbed to the injuries at the spot.
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3. The claimants filed a petition under Section 166
of the Act seeking compensation for the death of the
deceased along with interest.
4. On service of summons, the respondent
appeared through counsel and filed written statement in
which the averments made in the petition were denied.
The age, occupation and income of the deceased are
denied. It was pleaded that the accident was due to the
rash and negligent riding of the motorcycle by the
deceased himself. It was further pleaded that the quantum
of compensation claimed by the claimants is exorbitant.
Hence, he sought for dismissal of the petition.
5. On the basis of the pleadings of the parties, the
Claims Tribunal framed the issues and thereafter recorded
the evidence. The claimants, in order to prove their case,
examined claimant No.1 as PW-1 and got exhibited
documents namely Ex.P1 to Ex.P10. On behalf of
respondents, one witness was examined as RW-1 and no
documents were got exhibited. The Claims Tribunal, by the
impugned judgment, inter alia, held that the accident took
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place on account of rash and negligent driving of the
offending vehicle by its driver, as a result of which, the
deceased sustained injuries and succumbed to the injuries.
The Tribunal further held that the claimants are entitled to
a compensation of Rs.14,14,000/- along with interest at
the rate of 6% p.a. and directed the Corporation to deposit
the compensation amount along with interest. Being
aggrieved, this appeal has been filed.
6. The learned counsel for the claimants has
contended that the claimants claim that at the time of the
accident the deceased was working as a plumber and was
earning Rs.20,000/- per month. But the Tribunal is not
justified in taking the monthly income of the deceased as
only Rs.10,000/-. Hence, he prays for allowing the appeal.
7. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the
Corporation has contended that raised the following
contentions:
(i) Firstly, even though the claimants claim that the
deceased was earning Rs.20,000/- per month, the same is
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not established by the claimants by producing documents.
Therefore, the Tribunal has rightly assessed the income of
the deceased notionally.
(ii) Considering the age and avocation of the
deceased, the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is
just and reasonable. Hence, he prays for dismissal of the
appeal.
8. Heard the learned counsel for the parties and
perused the judgment and award.
9. It is not in dispute that Suresh Babu died in the
road traffic accident occurred due to rash and negligent
driving of the KSRTC bus bearing registration No.KA-42/F-
1797 by its driver.
10. The claimants have not produced any evidence or
documents with regard to the income of the deceased.
Therefore, the notional income has to be assessed as per
the guidelines issued by the Karnataka State Legal
Services Authority. Since the accident has taken place in
the year 2018, the notional income has to be taken at
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Rs.12,500/- p.m. To the aforesaid amount, Tribunal has
rightly considered addition of 40% on account of future
prospects in view of the law laid down by the Constitution
Bench of the Supreme Court in NATIONAL INSURANCE
CO. LTD. -v- PRANAY SETHI AND OTHERS reported in
AIR 2017 SC 5157. Thus, the monthly income comes to
Rs.17,500/-, out of which, since the deceased was a
bachelor, the Tribunal has rightly deducted 50% towards
personal expenses and therefore, the monthly income
comes to Rs.8,750/-. The deceased was aged about 32
years at the time of the accident and multiplier applicable
to his age group is '16'. Thus, the claimants are entitled
to compensation of Rs.16,80,000/- (Rs.8,750*12*16) on
account of 'loss of dependency'. The compensation
awarded by the Tribunal under the other heads is just and
reasonable.
11. In view of the above, I pass the following order:
(i) The appeal is allowed in part.
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(ii) The judgment of the claims Tribunal is modified.
The claimants are entitled to compensation of
Rs.16,80,000/- under the heads 'loss of dependency' in
place of Rs.13,44,000/- awarded by the Tribunal. The
compensation awarded by the Tribunal on the other heads
remains unaltered.
(iii) The Corporation is directed to deposit the
compensation amount along with interest @ 6% p.a. from
the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of
realization, within a period of six weeks from the date of
receipt of copy of this judgment.
Sd/-
JUDGE
CM
