Tripura High Court

Smti. Rita Das & Another vs The Branch Manager on 9 May, 2024

                                      Page 1 of 3




                        HIGH COURT OF TRIPURA
                              AGARTALA
             IA No.02/2024 in MFA (EC) No.03 of 2023 (D/O)
Smti. Rita Das & another
                                                                      .........Applicant(s);
                             Versus
The Branch Manager, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company
Limited
                                                  .........Respondent(s)

For Applicant(s) : Mr. H. Debnath, Sr. Advocate, Ms. U. Chanda, Advocate.

For Respondent(s) : Mr. Karnajit De, Advocate. HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. APARESH KUMAR SINGH

Order 09/05/2024

The instant interlocutory application is for withdrawal of the

interest part of the awarded amount @ 7.5% by the parents of the deceased

upon disposal of MFA (EC) No.03/2023 vide judgment dated 26.07.2023

passed by this Court.

The operative portion of the impugned award is extracted

hereunder:

"In the result, the petitioners are entitled to get compensation of Rs.12,52,900/- (Rupees Twelve lakh Fifty two thousand Nine Hundred) only with interest @ 12% per annum from 27.03.2019 i.e. one month after the date of accident till realization. O.P. No.2, Cholamandalam MS Genenral Insurance Co. Ltd. will pay the amount of compensation with interest within 30 days from today.

The total amount of compensation inclusive of interest will be divided equally among the petitioners No.1 and 2. Out of their respective share, 60% each of their share shall be kept in fixed deposit scheme in their respective name with the UCO Bank, District Court Branch, Agartala for a period of five years each and the balance amount shall be paid to them to their respective bank account. Petitioners No.1 and 2 shall be entitled to withdraw monthly interest from their respective fixed deposit account to meet their day to day expenses.

Supply copy of this award free of cost to the parties. The claim petition stands disposed of on contest."

The operative part of the order passed in MFA (EC) No.03/2023 dated

26.07.2023 is also extracted hereunder:

"8. This present appeal has been heard on merits and learned counsel appearing for the appellant-Insurance Company has advanced his argument on 2(two) grounds i.e.,

1) Assessment of income @ Rs.12,000/- per month in the absence of any document on the higher side.

2) 12% interest per annum levied on the entire award of compensation granted in favour of claimant-respondent is also on the higher side.

9. As against the assessment of income of Rs.12,000/- per month, the Hon'ble Apex Court way back in 2011 in Ramchandrappa Vs. Manager, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited, reported in (2011) 13 SCC 236 indicated thus:-

"13..........In the absence of any other evidence contrary to the claim made by the claimant, in our view, in the facts of the present case, the Tribunal should have accepted the claim of the claimant. We hasten to add that in all cases and in all circumstances, the Tribunal need not accept the claim of the claimant in the absence of supporting material. It depends on the facts of each case. In a given case, if the claim made is so exorbitant or if the claim made is contrary to ground realities, the Tribunal may not accept the claim and may proceed to determine the possible income by resorting to some guess work, which may include the ground realities prevailing at the relevant point of time.............."

So, in the case at hand, the accident took place in 2019, and this Court feels that in the absence of any proof of income, an assessment of Rs.12,000/- per month as income of the deceased is just and proper and reasonable enough. As such the same is upheld.

10. In so far as interest is concerned, this Court considers that the 12% interest per annum levied on the entire award of compensation granted in favour of claimant-respondents is on the higher side. This Court has adopted a uniform policy of imposing 7.5 % interest per annum. Accordingly, the 12% interest per annum levied is reduced to 7.5 % per annum."

Learned counsel for the claimants submits that the principal amount had

already been paid. Learned Appellate Court has only modified the interest

part. The insurance company had made a pre-deposit of the interest part only

@ 7.5% in the Registry of this Court. There is no objection on behalf of the

insurance company to this prayer. Learned counsel for the applicants

submits that there is no further appeal to the order passed by this Court in

MFA (EC) No.03/2023.

Having regard to the aforesaid circumstances, let the amount of

interest lying deposited in the Registry be released in favour of the

claimants/parents of the deceased on proper identification within a period of

1(one) week of making of their application.

IA is disposed of.