Rajasthan High Court

Basant Lal Joshi And Others vs Ishwar Prasad And Others ... on 5 October, 2023

Bench: Ashutosh Kumar

[2023:RJ-JP:26769]

        HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
                    BENCH AT JAIPUR

            S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 1247/2014

1. Basant Lal Joshi s/o Shri Nandlal Joshi, aged 40 years
2. Saroj Devi Joshi w/o Shri Basant Lal Joshi, aged 39 years
3.    Sunita D/o Shri Basant Lal Joshi, aged 15 years through
natural guardian Father Sh.Basant Lal Joshi
R/o Nard No.17, Jat Ke Kuwed ke pass, Laxmangarh, Tehsil
Laxmangarh, District Sikar
                                                                   ----Appellants
                                     Versus
1. Ishwar Prasad s/o Bhagwanaram R/o Ward No.23, Near
Saraogi Bhawan, Laxmangarh, Tehsil Laxmangarh, District Sikar
through Manager RSRTC Sikar Depot Sikar (Vehicle owner
Vehicle No.RJ 23P-1004 Bus)
2. Chief Manager, RSRTC Sikar Depot Sikar (Registered Vehicle
Owner Vehicle No.RJ 23P-1004 Bus)
3. Chief Manager, RSRTC, Near Ajmer Pulia, Jaipur (Registered
Vehicle Owner Vehicle No.RJ 23P-1004 Bus)
                                                                 ----Respondents

For Appellant(s)           :    Mr.Gajendra Sharma
For Respondent(s)          :    Mr.Anirudh Singh RAthore



            HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR

                                     Order

05/10/2023

1. The instant appeal has been filed by the appellants -

claimants under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1973

against the judgment and award dated 04.01.2014 passed by

Judge, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Sikar (hereinafter referred

to as the "Tribunal") in MAC Case No.285/2013, whereby learned

Tribunal awarded compensation of Rs.3,74,500/- in favour of the

appellants-claimants due to death of Ms.Mamta (hereinafter to be

referred as "deceased").

[2023:RJ-JP:26769] (2 of 6) [CMA-1247/2014]

2. Brief facts of the case are that in a road accident dated

12.09.2008, the deceased - Mamta died. A claim petition

No.285/2013 was filed by parents and sister of the deceased

before the Tribunal.

3. On the basis of pleadings of the parties, the learned Tribunal

framed the issues and evaluated the evidence on record. After

hearing learned counsel for the parties, learned Tribunal decided

the claim petition of the claimants and passed the impugned

judgment and award. Hence, the present appeal.

4. Learned counsel for the appellants-claimants contended that

the learned Tribunal has erred in passing the impugned judgment

and award. Learned Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased

only Rs.4000/- per month, whereas the deceased was a Teacher

and used to earn Rs.8000/- per month.

5. Learned Tribunal has further erred in not including any

amount under the head of future prospects, as the deceased was

of the age of 21 years at time of accident and she was self

employed and, therefore, the claimants are entitled for 40%

future prospects.

6. Learned counsel further contended that the learned Tribunal

has erred in awarding interest @ 6% per annum. It is a settled

law that interest on the compensation amount ought to have been

awarded at least @ 12% per annum.

7. Learned counsel contended that learned Tribunal has applied

multiplier of 15, which on a lower side. It has further been

contended that under the head of 'filial' consortium, compensation

[2023:RJ-JP:26769] (3 of 6) [CMA-1247/2014]

has been awarded on a very lower side, therefore, the appeal may

be allowed and the amount of compensation may be suitably

enhanced.

8. The respondent - Insurance Company has not filed any

appeal against the impugned judgment and award.

9. However, learned counsel for the respondent - Insurance

Company submitted that learned Tribunal, after appreciating the

evidence, available on record, has rightly awarded compensation

in favour of the appellants-claimants, which does not warrant any

interference by this Court. Accordingly, the appeal may be

dismissed.

10. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the

material available on record.

11. In the claim petition, the deceased was said to be a Teacher

with monthly income of Rs.8000/-, however, to prove the income

of the deceased, no cogent evidence was produced by the

appellants-claimants before learned Tribunal. Therefore, learned

Tribunal assessed income of the deceased as Rs.4000/- per month

and no appeal has been filed by the Insurance Company, thus the

income, so assessed by learned Tribunal, has not been disputed.

Accordingly, this Court affirms findings of learned Tribunal that

deceased was earning Rs.4000/- per month on the date of

incident (12.09.2008).

12. Admittedly, learned Tribunal has not added any amount

under the head of future prospects. As per the judgment of the

Apex Court in the case of National Insurance Company

[2023:RJ-JP:26769] (4 of 6) [CMA-1247/2014]

Limited Vs. Pranay Sethi & Ors. reported in (2017) 16 SCC

680, in case of self-employed person, the future prospects is to be

added as per the guidelines given in the judgment in the case of

Pranay Sethi & Ors. (supra).

13. In view of the abovementioned discussions, looking to the

age of the deceased, increment of 40% as future prospects, as per

the direction given in the case of Pranay Sethi & Ors. (supra) is

also required to be made. Thus, monthly income of the deceased

comes out to be Rs.4000 + 40% (Rs.1600/-) future prospects =

total Rs.5600/- per month for the purpose of calculating the loss

of income.

14. As the deceased was unmarried, therefore, learned Tribunal

has rightly deducted 50% amount of the total income under the

head of personal expenses of the deceased. Therefore, after

deducting 50% amount, monthly income of the deceased comes

out to be Rs.2800/- per month (Rs.5600-50%=Rs.2800), which

shall be taken into consideration to assess the loss of dependency.

15. This Court finds that deceased was of the age of 21 years

and learned Tribunal has applied the multiplier of 15 on the

average age of the deceased, however, as per the judgment of the

Apex Court in the case of Pranay Sethi & Ors. (supra), multiplier is

to be applied as per the age of the deceased. Therefore, in the

present case, multiplier of 18 is to be applied.

16. Now, as discussed above, when applying the multiplier of 18,

total amount quantified as the loss of dependency comes out to be

Rs.2800 x 12 x 18 = Rs.6,04,800/-.

[2023:RJ-JP:26769] (5 of 6) [CMA-1247/2014]

17. Learned Tribunal has awarded an amount of Rs.5000/- to the

parents of the deceased under the head of 'filial' consortium,

which according to the judgments of the Apex Court in the case of

Pranay Sethi & Ors. (supra), United India Insurance Company

Ltd. Vs. Satinder Kaur @ Satvinder Kaur & Anr. reported in

[(2021) 11 SCC 780] as well as Magma General Insurance

Co. Ltd Vs. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors. reported in

[(2018) 18 SCC 130] needs to be enhanced to Rs.40,000/-

each.

18. Learned Tribunal has also awarded Rs.2500/- to sister of the

deceased under the head of loss of love and affection but as per

the settled law, brother and sister of the deceased are not entitled

for any loss of love and affection. Therefore, the appellant-

claimant No.3 - Sunita (sister of the deceased) is not entitled for

the aforesaid amount of Rs.2500/-.

19. This Court finds that learned Tribunal has awarded Rs.2000/-

under the head of funeral expenses, which needs to be enhanced

to Rs.15000/- in view of the judgment in the case of Pranay Sethi

& Ors. (supra).

20. Learned Tribunal has not granted any amount under the

head of loss of estate, hence, Rs.15000/- is granted under the

head of loss of estate.

21. Therefore, the judgment and award of the Tribunal is

modified to the extent as under:



  1.          Loss of Annual Income (as                    Rs.2800 x 12 x 18 =
              per   the  age      of   the                 Rs.6,04,800/-
              deceased, multiplier of 18).


                                    [2023:RJ-JP:26769]                         (6 of 6)                      [CMA-1247/2014]


                                      2.              Under the head of 'filial'                   Rs.40,000/- each to the

                                                                                                   Total Rs.80,000/-
                                      3.              Funeral expenses                             Rs.15,000/-
                                      4.              Loss of estate                               Rs.15,000/-
                                      5.              Total     amount                   of        Rs.7,14,800/-
                                                      compensation
                                      6.              Less amount awarded by                       Rs.3,74,500/-
                                                      the Tribunal
                                      7.              Enhanced     amount                of        (Rs.7,14,800-
                                                      compensation                                 Rs.3,74,500=
                                                                                                   Rs.3,40,300/-

22. In view of the above, the impugned judgment and award

dated 04.01.2014 passed by the Tribunal is modified to the

aforesaid extent. The claimants-appellants are entitled to get a

sum of Rs.7,14,800/- as compensation. The Insurance Company is

directed to deposit the enhanced amount of compensation with

the Tribunal within a period of two months from the date of receipt

of certified copy of this order. After deposition of the said amount,

the learned Tribunal is directed to disburse the same in terms of

the award. The enhanced amount shall carry 8% interest from the

date of filing of claim petition till the actual payment is made.

23. The other terms and conditions of the impugned judgment

and award shall remain the same.