Madras High Court
Anitha vs R.Subramani on 9 April, 2021
C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 09.04.2021
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY
C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
1. Anitha
2. Minor Dheventh
3. Minor Ovian
[Minors represented by Guardian/Mother
Anitha]
4. Ramasamy
5. Sellammal .. Appellants
Vs.
1.R.Subramani
2. National Insurance Co., Ltd.,
No.74-A, Paramathi Road,
Namakkal.
(The 1st Respondent remained set ex-parte
before the tribunal) .. Respondents
Prayer: This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is filed under Section 173 of the
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, against the Judgment and Decree dated
18.09.2015 made in M.C.O.P.No.487 of 2013 on the file of the Motor
Accident Claims Tribunal, Principal District Court, Namakkal.
For Appellants : M/s.K.Thangaraju
For Respondents : Mr.S.Vadivel (R2)
Exparte (R1)
1/10
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
JUDGMENT
This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal has been filed for enhancement of
compensation granted by the award dated 18.09.2015 made in
M.C.O.P.No.487 of 2013 on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal,
Principal District Court, Namakkal.
2.The appellants are the claimants in M.C.O.P.No.487 of 2013 on the
file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Principal District Court,
Namakkal. They filed the above said claim petition, claiming a sum of
Rs.75,00,000/- as compensation for the death of one Ramesh, who died in the
accident that took place on 09.11.2012.
3.The Tribunal considering the pleadings, oral and documentary
evidence, held that the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving by
the driver of the van belonging to 1st respondent and directed the respondents
1 and 2 to pay a sum of Rs.18,25,000/- (Rupees Eighteen Lakhs Twenty Five
Thousand) as compensation to the appellants.
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
4.Not being satisfied with the amounts awarded by the Tribunal, the
appellants have come out with the present appeal seeking enhancement of
compensation.
5.The learned counsel appearing for the appellants contended that the
Court below has deducted 1/3rd towards personal expenses instead of 1/4th
as held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma & Ors Vs.
Delhi Transport Corporation & Another reported in (2009) 6 SCC 121. It
is further submitted that the future prospects needs to be added with the
income of the deceased as per the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in
the case of National Insurance Company Versus Pranay Sethi & Others
reported in (2017) 16 SCC 680, but the Claims Tribunal has not added any
amount towards future prospects. It is further stated that the tribunal has
awarded a sum of Rs.10,000/- towards Loss of consortium to the wife, a sum
of Rs.10,000/- towards a loss of love and affection, a sum of Rs.5,000/-
towards funeral expenses which are very low. He further submitted that in the
case of Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. V. Nanu Ram & Ors reported in
(2018) 18 SCC 130, Hon'ble Apex Court interpreted "consortium" to be a
compendious term, which encompasses spousal consortium, parental
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
consortium as well as filial consortium and held that the compensation has to
be awarded to the wife, children and parents of the deceased in the aforesaid
heads separately and further loss of love and affection is comprehended in
loss of consortium. He therefore prayed for enhancement of the
compensation.
6.Per contra, learned counsel appearing for the 2nd respondent-
Insurance Company contended that the Tribunal considering the evidence of
P.W.1 and Exs.P10 to P14 found that the wife of the deceased was not clear
about the income of the deceased and the number of vehicles run by her
husband and no documents were filed with regard to the particular income of
the deceased and further the deceased is not an income tax assessee.
Considering the same, the tribunal fixed a sum of Rs.15,000/- per month and
rightly applied the multiplier 15 and after deducting 1/3rd towards personal
expenses awarded a sum of Rs. 18,00,000/- towards loss of income, which is
not meagre. The amounts awarded by the Tribunal towards loss of love and
affection, loss of consortium, funeral expenses to the appellants are also not
meagre and the total compensation awarded by the Tribunal is reasonable.
He further submitted that the appellants have not made out any case for
enhancement of compensation and prayed for dismissal of the appeal.
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
7.Heard the learned counsel appearing for the appellants as well as the
learned counsel appearing for the 2nd respondent-Insurance Company and
perused the entire materials on record.
8.It is the case of the appellants that at the time of accident the
deceased was aged 36 years and was a proprietor of transport and was earning
a sum of Rs.50,000/- per month. The Tribunal considering the evidence of
P.W.1, Exs.P10 to P14, held that the wife of the deceased was not clear about
the income of the deceased and the number of vehicles run by her husband
and no documents were filed with regard to the particular income of the
deceased and further the deceased is not an income tax assessee and fixed a
sum of Rs.15,000/- per month which is not in dispute. Hence, a sum of
Rs.15,000/- per month awarded by the tribunal as notional income of the
deceased appears to be fair and reasonable and therefore, the same is
confirmed. By, following the judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court reported
in 2017 (2) TNMAC 609 (SC), [National Insurance Company Limited Vs.
Pranay Sethi and others] and 2009 (2) TNMAC 1 SC Supreme Court,
[Sarla Verma & others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation & another], this
Court considering the age of the deceased is inclined to add 40% towards
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
future prospects and by adopting the multiplier 15 and after deducting 1/4th
towards personal expenses, as per the decisions cited supra, the compensation
awarded by the Tribunal towards loss of income is modified to
Rs.28,35,000/- {Rs.21,000/- [Rs.15,000/- + Rs.6,000/- (40% of Rs.15,000/-)]
X 12 X 15 - 1/4}. The amounts awarded by the Tribunal towards Loss of
Consortium to wife is redetermined as follows as per the Judgment of the
Hon'ble Supreme Court in Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. supra
Spousal Consortium
(to spouse) - Rs.40,000/-
Parental Consortium - Rs.80,000/-
(Rs.40,000/- to each children)
filial consortium
(Rs.40,000/- each of the parents
of the deceased) - Rs.80,000/-
---------------
Total Rs.2,00,000/-
----------------
9. Considering the cost of living prevailing as on date, the
compensation awarded towards Funeral expenses is enhanced to Rs.15,000/-,
Loss of Estate is awarded at Rs.15,000/- and Transport expenses is awarded
at Rs.10,000/- Thus, the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is modified
as follows:
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
S. Description Amount Amount awarded by this Court
No awarded by (Rs)
Tribunal
(Rs)
1. Loss of income 18,25,000/- 28,35,000/-
2. Funeral expenses 5,000/- 15,000/-
3. Loss of consortium 40,000/- 2,00,000/-
to 1st appellant (Spousal, parental and filial
consortium)
4. Loss of love and 1,00,000/- -
affection to
appellants 2 & 3
5. Loss of estate NIL 15,000/-
6. Transport 10,000/-
Total Rs.18,25,000/- Rs.30,75,000/-
10.Out of the total enhanced award amount, the first appellant/wife is
entitled to a sum of Rs.11,75,000/-, parents of the deceased/appellants 4 and 5
are entitled to a sum of Rs.2,00,000/- each and the appellants 2 and 3 are
entilted for a sum of Rs.7,50,000/- each.
11. In the result, this Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is partly allowed and
the compensation awarded by the Tribunal at Rs.18,25,000/- is hereby
enhanced to Rs.30,75,000/- together with interest at the rate of 7.5% per
annum from the date of petition till the date of deposit. The respondents 1 and
2 are directed to deposit the award amount now determined by this Court,
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
along with interest and costs, less the amount already deposited, if any, within
a period of ten weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment to
the credit of M.C.O.P.No.487 of 2013 on the file of the Motor Accident
Claims Tribunal, Principal District Judge, Namakkal. On such deposit, the
appellants 1,4, 5 are permitted to withdraw their respective share of the award
amount now determined by this Court, as per the aforesaid apportionment ,
along with proportionate interest and costs, less the amount if any, already
withdrawn by making necessary applications before the Tribunal. The share
of the minors 2nd and 3 rd appellants are directed to be deposited in any one
of the Nationalized Banks, till they attain majority. On such deposit, the 1 st
appellant, being the mother of the minor appellants is permitted to withdraw
the accrued interest once in three months for the welfare of the minor
appellants. The appellants are directed to pay the necessary Court fee as
per the order of this Court dated 11.07.2017 made in C.M.P.No.9136 of 2017
in C.M.A.SR.No.9136 of 2017. No costs.
09.04.2021
arr
Index : Yes / No
Internet : Yes / No
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C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
To
1.The Principal District Judge,
Motor Accident Claims Tribunal,
Namakkal.
2. National Insurance Co., Ltd.,
No.74-A, Paramathi Road,
Namakkal.
3.The Section Officer,
VR Section,
High Court,
Madras.
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis/
C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J.
arr
C.M.A.No.2880 of 2017
09.04.2021
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