Punjab-Haryana High Court
Magma Hdi General Insurance Co Ltd vs Parul And Others on 29 August, 2023
2023:PHHC:114194
FAO-2473-2023 (O&M) -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH.
Sr. No.132
Case No. : FAO-2473-2023 (O&M)
Date of Decision : August 29, 2023
Magma HDI General Insurance Co. Ltd. .... Appellant
vs.
Parul and others .... Respondents
CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE GURBIR SINGH.
* * *
Present : Mr. Sanjeev Goyal, Advocate
for the applicant-appellant.
* * *
GURBIR SINGH, J. :
1. CM-8829-C-II-2023 : This is application under Section 5 of
the Limitation Act for condonation of delay of 14 days in filing the present
appeal. For the reasons mentioned in the application, the same is allowed
and delay of 14 days in filing the present appeal is condoned. The
application stands disposed of.
2. Main Appeal : This appeal has been filed by Magma HDI
General Insurance Co. Ltd. (for short - Insurance Company) against the
Award dated 17.01.2023, passed by learned Motor Accident Claims
Tribunal, Panipat (for brevity - the Tribunal), in MACP case No.513 of
2019, whereby a sum of Rs.57,56,112/- has been awarded in favour of the
claimants (respondents no.1 to 4 herein) along with interest @ 6% per
annum from the date of filing the petition till actual realization, on account
of death of Narender Sharma, in the motor vehicular accident, which took
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place on 21.02.2019.
3. The learned Tribunal came to the conclusion that Narender
Sharma had died in the accident caused by Inderpal (respondent no.5) while
driving Truck bearing registration No.UP-85-AT-5079 in a rash and
negligent manner. The claimants are the dependents of the deceased, who
was about 33 years of age at the time of his death. His income was assessed
at Rs.3,38,458/- per annum, on the basis of Income Tax Returns (Ex.P-11).
Since there were four claimants, ¼th amount was deducted as personal
expenses. Keeping in view the age, multiplier of 16 was adopted and 40%
income of the deceased was added by way of future prospects and
Rs.70,000/- was awarded for loss of consortium, funeral expenses and loss
of estate.
4. Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that the learned
Tribunal failed to take note of the fact that net income of the deceased was
Rs.2,98,360/- as there is deduction of Rs.40,100/-, shown in the Income Tax
Return, from the income of the deceased. No Income Tax Returns of M/s
Marble and Stone Company were produced by the claimants. The said
business is being run by the claimants after death of Narender Sharma and is
not closed. At the most, the claimants have suffered loss of managerial
services, which were being provided by the deceased. Therefore, it is
contended that the income of the deceased has been assessed by the Tribunal
on a higher side.
5. I have heard the submissions of learned counsel for the
appellant and also perused the case file.
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6. As per the Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2019-
20, income of the deceased is Rs.3,38,458/- for said year. The net taxable
income is shown to be Rs.2,98,360/-, after deducting Rs.40,100/-, which is
on account of rebate under Section 80-C of the Income Tax Act. When a
person deposits some part of his income in Life Insurance or contributes
towards Provident Fund etc., then said person is given rebate under Section
80-C of the Income Tax Act on the said income and said amount cannot be
deducted from the income of the deceased for assessing his income. Net
income is the amount, which an individual gets after tax and deductions. In
other words, it is not earning. But taxable income is the amount of one's
income which is subject to income tax. Thus, the deductions permissible
under law are part of income of an individual but same is not taxable. There
is a difference between net income and taxable income. Since a sum of
Rs.40,100/- is income of the deceased and is shown to be deducted from
taxable income for the purpose of levying tax, the argument of learned
counsel for the appellant that the said amount is required to be deducted
from income of the deceased, is without any basis. The income of the
deceased shown in the Income Tax Return is from his business, which is
proprietorship concern of the deceased and it cannot be said that the
claimants have suffered loss only on account of managerial services and not
more than that. A manager cannot yield result what a Proprietor can do. In
case of corporate bodies, position is different. The learned Tribunal has also
relied on two judgments of Hon'ble Apex Court in Malarvizhi and others
vs. United India Insurance Company Limited and others - (2020) 4 SCC
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228 and Smt. Anjali and others vs. Lokendra Rathod and others - Civil
Appeal No.009014 of 2022, decided on 06.12.2022, for placing reliance on
the Income Tax Return of the deceased, for the purpose of assessing the
income of deceased. The Income Tax Return is such a document which is
submitted as per the Statute and Tribunal is required to place reliance on
such a document, in the absence of any other evidence, for assessing the
amount of compensation. The learned Tribunal has rightly assessed the
income of the deceased.
7. In view of the above discussion, I do not find any illegality or
perversity in the impugned Award dated 17.01.2023, passed by the learned
Tribunal. The present appeal, therefore, is without any merit and the same is
accordingly dismissed in limine. The amount of Rs.25,000/-, deposited by
the appellant for filing the appeal, is ordered to be sent to the concerned
Tribunal.
8. Pending applications, if any, shall stand disposed of along with
this judgment.
August 29, 2023 (GURBIR SINGH)
monika JUDGE
Whether speaking/reasoned ? Yes/No.
Whether reportable ? Yes/No.
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