Madras High Court

Sakthivel vs Perumal on 28 November, 2023

                                                                                     C.M.A. No. 1214 of 2021


                                    IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

                                                        DATED : 28.11.2023

                                                             CORAM:

                                    THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K. RAJASEKAR

                                                    C.M.A. No. 1214 of 2021

                     Sakthivel                                         ... Appellant / Petitioner

                                                                Vs.

                     1.           Perumal

                     2.           The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.,
                                  No.3L, Sithaveerappa Chetty Street,
                                  Dharmapuri.                         ... Respondents / Respondents



                                  Civil Miscellaneous Appeal filed under Section 173 of Motor
                     Vehicles Act, 1988 against the Judgment and decree dated 24.02.2020
                     passed in M.C.O.P. No.933 of 2015 on the file of the Principal Subordinate
                     Judge, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Dharmapuri.

                                  For Appellant     :       Mr. D. Rameshkumar

                                  For R1            :       No Appearance

                                  For R2            :       Mr. N. Sampath

                                                             *******


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                                                                                    C.M.A. No. 1214 of 2021




                                                          JUDGMENT

This Civil Miscellaneous appeal has been filed by the claimant

seeking enhancement of compensation awarded in M.C.O.P. No.933 of

2015, dated 24.02.2020 on the file of the Principal Subordinate Judge,

Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Dharmapuri.

2. For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred herein

according to their litigative status and rank before the Tribunal.

3. The case of the claimant is that on 10.05.2015, at about 09:00

hours, the claimant was riding his two wheeler bearing Registration No.TN-

20-AQ-2980 towards Kesampatti via Nallampalli road, at that time, a tractor

bearing Registration No.TN-29-AP-1347 driven by its driver in rash and

negligent manner came in the opposite direction and hit on the two wheeler

of the claimant, which resulted in grievous injuries to the claimant. A

criminal case was also registered against the driver of the tractor in

Cr.No.184/2015 u/s. 279, 337 of I.P.C. on the file of the Adhiyamaankottai

Police Station. Due to which, the claimant has come forward with a claim

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petition seeking compensation for a sum of Rs.5,00,000/-.

4. The first respondent is the owner of the tractor bearing

Registration No.TN-29-AP-1347 and has not contested the claim, the

second respondent is the insurer of the tractor has filed a counter and

disputed the manner in which the accident has taken place and stated the

accident was taken place due to the negligent act on the part of the claimant

and also disputed the age, occupation and income of the claimant. The

insurance company has also contended that the compensation claimed under

various heads is on the higher side, and prayed to dismiss the claim petition.

5. Before the Tribunal, the claimant himself examined as P.W.1

and Exs.P.1 to P.9 were marked. On the side of the respondent, no

witnesses were examined and no exhibits were marked.

6. Based on the evidence placed on record, the Tribunal in point

no.1 has held that the tortuous act on the part of the driver of the first

respondent tractor bearing Registration No.TN-29-AP-1347 is responsible

for the accident. In point no.2, the Tribunal has held the second respondent

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insurance company is liable to pay the compensation to the claimants. In

point no.3, the Tribunal has quantified and granted compensation for a sum

of Rs.1,86,179/- along with interest @ 7.5% per annum from the date of

filing of petition till the date of realization.

7. Aggrieved over the quantum of compensation, the claimant has

approached this Court for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the

Tribunal.

8. The learned counsel appearing for the claimant has submitted

that the major grievances of the claimant is that the compensation awarded

under the head disability is on the lower side since, the Tribunal has not

followed the norms followed by this Court in granting compensation under

disability by adopting percentage method. The learned counsel also further

submitted that the Tribunal has not awarded compensation for future

medical expenses since the claimant requires further treatment, hence prays

to modify the award.

9. The learned counsel appearing for the second respondent –

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insurance company has submitted that based on the evidence placed on

record, the Tribunal has rightly awarded just compensation, hence prays to

confirm the same.

10. I have considered the submissions made on both sides and

perused the materials placed on record:

11. The claimant has sustained both bone fracture and multiple

internal injuries to hip, chest and shoulder treated by fixing rod and screw

and the claimant was also undergone treatment in the Dharmapuri

Government Hospital and subsequently, he was treated at Ganga Hospital,

Coimbatore. Considering the above injuries sustained by the claimant, his

disability was assessed as 20% as per the disability certificate marked as

Ex.P.9. The Tribunal has also accepted the disability and treated the injury

as a non-functional disability and awarded Rs.3,000/- per percentage of

injury, thereby granting compensation for Rs.60,000/- under the head

disability. This Court judgment in M. Chinnathambi vs. S. Deepa and

another [CDJ 2020 MHC 1013; 2020 (1) TNMAC 617], this Court has

awarded Rs.4,000/- per percentage of injury for the accident cases taken

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place from the year 2014-2015, hence, considering the date of accident, this

Court is inclined to modify the same by adopting Rs.4,000/- per percentage

of injury and award compensation for a sum of Rs.80,000/- (Rs.4,000/- x

20% diability).

12. The other contention of the learned counsel appearing for the

claimant is that the Tribunal has not granted any compensation under the

head future medical expenses, on perusal of the evidence placed on record,

the claimant has been treated with fixation of rod and screw for the fracture

sustained by the claimant on his right leg and the same has to be removed.

The Tribunal has not considered the same for granting future medical

expenses to the claimant, hence this Court is inclined to grant Rs.40,000/-

under the head future medical expenses to the claimant for his further

medical treatment. The Tribunal has granted Rs.5,000/- towards attender

charges, on perusal of the medical records, the claimant has undergone

treatment for a period of nearly three months, hence this Court is of the view

that granting Rs.5,000/- towards attender charges is on the lower side and

the same is hereby modified to Rs.10,000/-. Whereas the compensation

awarded under other heads are concerned, the Tribunal has granted just

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compensation and the same are hereby confirmed.

13. Accordingly, the award passed by the Tribunal under various

heads are hereby modified as follows:

                        S.              Description         Amount      Amount       Award
                        No                                 awarded by awarded by confirmed
                                                            Tribunal   this Court or enhanced
                                                              (Rs)        (Rs)     or reduced
                        1. 20% Disability                       60,000/-      80,000/-    Enhanced
                        2. Pain and Suffering                   25,000/-      25,000/- Confirmed
                        3. Transportation expenses              10,000/-      10,000/- Confirmed
                        4. Attender charges                      5,000/-      10,000/-    Enhanced
                        5. Extra Nourishment and                10,000/-      10,000/- Confirmed
                           damage to articles
                        6. Loss of income during                18,000/-      18,000/- Confirmed
                           treatment period (3
                           months)
                        7. Medical expenses                     63,179/-      63,179/- Confirmed
                        8. Future Medical                       ---           40,000/-     Granted
                           expenses
                                  Total Compensation          1,86,179/-     2,56,179/- Enhanced
                                                              1,91,179/-

15. In the result, this Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is partly allowed

and the compensation awarded by the Tribunal at Rs.1,86,179/- is hereby

enhanced to Rs.2,51,179/- [Rupees Two Lakh Fifty One Thousand One

hundred and Seventy Nine only] together along with interest at the rate of

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7.5% per annum from the date of filing of Claim Petition till the date of

deposit. The second respondent - Insurance Company is directed to deposit

the amount awarded by this Court along with interest and costs, less the

amount already deposited, if any, within a period of six weeks from the date

of receipt of a copy of this judgment to the credit of M.C.O.P.No.933 of

2015 on the file of the Princial Subordinate Judge, Motor Accidents Claims

Tribunal, Dharmapuri. On such deposit, the appellant is permitted to