*- * A—<sa. •i—f:ir"T'<V ,/--' .-ir.^ vy^ •^ '^^'i'y^^'s'^. a ^ ^rts:"?' i5;^ ^ *<^u>^-.^'?^ Ki %'.^-«^ A- ^. ^•Q-^Qd. HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH Q CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, C.J. & HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, J. Misc. Appeal (C) No. 551 of 2010 Appellants Claimants Respondents Smt. Kumari Bai Sharma, wd/o late Dhanesh Prasad Sharma, aged about 52 years, Latish Kumar Sharma, s/o late Dhanesh Prasad Sharma, aged about 24 years, Both appellants r/o village Onwa, P.0. Madheli, thana & Tehsil Chhura, district Raipur C.G. VERSUS Santosh Kay Johnson, s/o D. Kay Johnson, aged about 43 years, r/o Jail Road, Pairy Nagar, Gariaband, thana & tehsil Gariaband, district RaipurC.G. (Driver & Owner of vehicle Maruti AIto Car, bearing registration NO.C.G.04/H/5077) Branch Manager, Future Generally India Insurance Company Limited, Maruti Business Park, infront of National Garage Rajkumar College Complex, G.E. Road, Raipur, district RaipurC.G. (Insurer of vehicle Maruti Alto Car, bearing registration No. C.G. 04/H/5077) Misc. ADDeal under Section 173 bf the IVIotor Vehicle Act. Present: Shri Satyendra Sahu and Shri Suresh Tandon, counsel for the appellants. Shri S.S. Rajput, counsel for respondent No.2. ^f' < M.A.C. No. S51 of 2010 ^o ORDER >th (08mAugust,2011) The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. The unfortunate widow and son of deceased Dhanesh Prasad Sharma, are the appellants before us in this appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by. the Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Raipur (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 27.01.2010, passed in Claim Case No.57/2009. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.21,70,000/- claimed by the appellants/ claimants, unfortunate widow and son of deceased Dhanesh Prasad Sharma, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for his death in the motor accident on 17.04.2009, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.2,18,6007- as compensation along with interest @ 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 3) The Tribunal on a close scrutiny of the entire evjdence led before it held that deceased Dhanesh Prasad Sharma died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 17.04.2009; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Maruti Alto Car bearing registration No.CG-04H/5077; as the above offending vehicle Maruti Alto Car on the date of the accident was insured with the Future Generally India Insurance Company Limited and 1 I.A.C. No. 551 of 2010 ^ the insurance company could not establish any breach of the policy conditions, the Insurance Company was liable to pay compensation to the claimants. 4) As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the above findings recorded by the Tribunal have now attained finality. 5) The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.100/- per day and Rs.2,400/- per month assuming that the shop of the deceased used to remain closed for about six days in a month; and Rs.28,800/- per annum. By deducting 1/3 of Rs.28,800/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs. 19.200/- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.19,200/- with the multiplier of 8, the compensation was worked out to Rs.1,53,600/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.65,000/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.2,18,600/- as compensation to the claimants for the death of deceased Dhanesh Prasad Sharma in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.2,18,600/- @ 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) . Shri Satyendra Sahu and Shri Suresh Tandon, learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Tribunal has erred in assessing the monthly income of the deceased at Rs.2,400/- per month after having assessed his daily income at Rs.100/-; in '•''--jl '<<;.. 'y-rx- If '-s tt, »>,. MAC.No. 551 of 2010 selecting the lower multiplier of 8; and in awarding low compensation of Rs.2,18,600/- only. 7) Shri S.S. Rajput, learned counsel for respondent No.2, the Future Generally India Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Maruti Alto Car, on the other hand, supported the award and contended that the compensation of Rs.2,18,600/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 8) In a motor accident claim case, what is important is that, the compensation to be awarded by the Courts/Tribunals should be just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the case. It should neither be a meager amount of compensation, nor a Bonanza. 9) Now we shall examine as to whether thecompensation of Rs.2,18,600/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 10) The claimants pleaded that deceased Dhanesh Prasad Sharma used to earn Rs.300/- per day from his kirana and general store and the Tribunal assessed his daily income at Rs.100/-. As the claimants could not adduce any clinching evidence before the Tribunal to establish the daily income of the deceased at Rs.300/-, we do not find any infirmity in the assessment of the daily income on the deceased by the Tribunal atRs.100/-. M.A.C.No.551 of 2010 11) Nevertheless, the Tribunal has apparently erred in assessing the monthly income of the deceased at Rs.2,400/- only after having assessed the daily income of the deceased at Rs.100/-. In our opinion, the monthly income of the deceased ought to have been assessed by the Tribunal at Rs.3,000/- and the annual income at Rs.36,000/-. We, therefore, propose to recompute the compensation of the income of the deceased at Rs.3,000/- per month and Rs.36,000/- per annum. 12) By deducting the usual 1/3rd of Rs.36,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency is assessed at Rs.24,000/- per annum. 13) The multiplier of 8 selected by the Tribunal is on the lower side and requires reconsideration. 14) Considering that deceased Dhanesh Prasad Sharma was shown to be 55 years of age in his postmortem report and his widow Smt. Kumari Bai Sharma was shown to be 52 years of age in the claim petition, we are of the opinion that multiplier of 11 would be appropriate in the present case in view of the dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt) and Others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another, reported in (2009). 6 SCC 121 wherein multiplier of 11 has been prescribed forthe age group between 51-55 years. 15) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.24,000/- with the multiplier of 11, the compensation works out to Rs.2,64,000/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.5,000/- towards funeral ex^enses; Rs.5,000/- for 1oss of estate; and Rs.5,000/- for sg"~ MAlLJ±Q^5l2Si MAC.No. 551 of 2010 u ) loss of consortium to the widow, the claimants become entitled to receive a total sum of Rs.2,79,000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Dhanesh Prasad .Sharma in the motor accident. 16) Learned counsel for the parties submitted that with a view to avoid any possible dispute between the parties before the Tribunal about the period for which the claimants are entitled to receive interest on the enhanced amount of compensation, the amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation may be quantified in this appeal itself. 17) Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter, including the delay in disposal of the claim petition, and the present appeal and the fact that the Insurance Company alone is not to be blamed for the entire delay in the matter,we quantify the amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.60,400/- at Rs.6,600/-. 18) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensation of Rs.2,18,600/- awarded by the .Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.2,79,000/- with further quantified amount of interest of Rs.6,600/-ion the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.60,400/-. 19) Respondent No.2 the Future Generally India Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.67,000/- (Rs.60,400/- towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.6,600/- towards quantified amount of •bBletteMyt'—V; _M fi r ^ Pi -3- AC.No. 551 of 2010 interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.60,400/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 20) No order as to costs. Sd/- Chief Justice subbu Sd/- R.N.Chardraka! Judge