F.A.O.Nos. 2416 and 2828 of 1996 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 2416 OF 1996 Date of decision:30th November, 2010 National Insurance Company Ltd., SCO 332-334, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh through its Regional Manager. .......Appellant Versus Smt. Mohinderjit Kaur and others ........Respondents F.A.O.NO. 2828 of 1996 Smt. Mohinderjit Kaur and others ......Appellant Versus Enkay India Rubber Company Ltd. and others .....Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. L.M.Suri, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate, for the Insurance Company. Mr. Sarwan Singh, Sr. Advocate with Mr. N.S.Rapri, Advocate, for respondent Nos. 1 and 2. Mr. K.S.Dadwal, Advocate, for the claimants. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes/No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not?Yes/No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Yes/No K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. Both the appeals refer to the same accident. FAO No. F.A.O.Nos. 2416 and 2828 of 1996 2 2828 of 1996 is for enhancement of claim for compensation and FAO No. 2416 of 1996 is at the instance of the insurer seeking for right of recovery against the owner and the driver on the ground that the driver did not have a valid driving licence. 2. As regards the claim for enhancement, the disposal of the case by the Tribunal is far from satisfactory. It was a case of death of 40 years old person who was Assistant Manager in State Bank of India and claimants were widow, three minor daughters and aged mother. The salary certificate filed in Court showed that he earned Rs. 7,732.98 per month on the date of his death. The Tribunal observed that the dependency to the family would have been Rs. 7,000/- per month and granted Rs. 6,00,000/- as compensation without any form of discussion. I would adopt the form as suggested by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another (2009) 6 SCC 121 and provide for 30% increase, take a deduction of 1/4th towards personal expenses and adopt a multiplier of 14 as a person who was in the age group of 41 to 45 years. I will provide Rs. 20,000/- for medical expenses where there was oral evidence through the claimant that her husband had been initially admitted in Government hospital at Hoshiarpur, from there he was referred to better medical institution for better clinical management. He had been taken to CMC at Ludhiana where he died after four days on 23.03.1994. Though no documentary evidence was adduced in this regard. I will provide Rs. 20,000/- towards medical expenses including F.A.O.Nos. 2416 and 2828 of 1996 3 transportation. I will provide for Rs. 12,500/- to the wife for loss of consortium, Rs. 2500/- for each one of the minor children for loss of love and affection, Rs. 5,000/- towards loss to estate, Rs. 4,000/- towards funeral expenses and determine the compensation in the tabulated form as under:- FATAL ACCIDENTS Age 40 years Occupation Assistant Manager in State Bank of India Claimants Mother, Widow and three minor children Heads of claim Tribunal High Court Sr. No. Amount(Rs) Amount(Rs) 1 Income 7732.98 7733 2 Add, % Increase 30% / 50% 30.00% 3 Average monthly income x 12 10053 4 Deduction ½, 1/3, ¼, 1//5, 2/3 1/3rd 1/4th 5 Multiplicand 7539.75 x 12 = 90,477 6 Multiplier 14 7 Loss of dependence 12,66,678 8 Medical expenses and Transportation expenses 20000 9 Loss of consortium 12500 10 Love and Affection 7500 11 Loss to estate 5000 12 Funeral Expenses 4000 Total Rs. 6,00,000/- 13,15,678 3. The amount in excess of what has already been awarded by the Tribunal shall attract interest at 6% from the date of the petition till the date of payment. The increase in compensation shall be distributed equally between widow, three minor children and the F.A.O.Nos. 2416 and 2828 of 1996 4 mother of the deceased. The mother's share and the widow's share shall be ordered to be released forthwith. As regards the share of the minors, it shall be retained in deposit with the nationalised bank during their respective minority and the interest accruals to be paid to the widow as guardian for the minor children. 4. As regards the issue relating to the driving licence, the driver had originally secured a report that there was renewal of driving licence for the year 1991-1992 for a period of five years. The insurance company had itself filed a report from DTO that the original issue had not been made in his name. The Trial court referred to the judgment in National Insurance Company Ltd. Vs. Sucha Singh reported in 1994(1) PLR 140 to hold that if there was a renewal which was genuine then liability of the insurer cannot be denied. This decision was gone through change where Sucha Singh's case(supra) has expressly over ruled in the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Co. v Swaran Singh (2004) 3 SCC 297. Since the law has undergone a change after the pronouncement of the decision by the Tribunal, I will offer the insurer an opportunity to prove that the original issue of licence was not genuine. The finding relating to the driving licence alone is set aside and the matter remitted to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Hoshiarpur for consideration of the issue relating to the validity of the driving licence. Both the parties namely insurer and the insured or the driver are at a liberty to produce evidence in support of the respective contentions. F.A.O.Nos. 2416 and 2828 of 1996 5 5. The claimants shall be entitled to enforce the award against the insurance company and the question whether the insurance company will have a right of recovery will depend on the out come of the adjudication relating to the driving licence. 6. Parties are directed to appear before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Hoshiarpur on 5.01.2011. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 30th November, 2010 Shivani Kaushik