,..°-.« ^ HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, C.J. & HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, J. Appellant (Claimant) Respondents Non-applicants Misc. Appeal (C) No.41 of 2009 Tomal Lal (wrongly mentioned instead of Toman Lal) @ Komal s/o. Babudas Ratre, aged about 29 years, r/o. village Binori Police Station Palari, district Raipur C.G. VERSUS 1 Churaman Sahu s/o Sunharlal Sahu, aged about 19 years, r/o. village Gidhpuri, police station & Tahsil Palari, district Raipur C.G. (Driver of offending tractor no.4878 & trolley chasis no. MPU-213) 2 Mathuresh Lahri s/o Vishram Lahri, aged about 40 years, r/o village Gidhpuri, police station & tahsil Palari, district Raipur C.G. (Owner) 3 Insurance Company ICICI Lombard, general insurance company Itd., Lal Ganga Complex, G.E. Road, Raipur, Police Station Golbazar, district RaipurC.G. (InsurerofTractor) 4 Shekhar Verma, s/o Lahan Verma, aged about 50 yrs, r/o Palari Police Station & Tahsil Palari, district Raipur C.G. (Owner of Marshal No.C.G.-08/ZD- 5339) 5 Insurance Company, the New India Insurance Company Ltd, Civil Line, Balodabazar, Police Station Balodabazar, district Raipur C.G. (Insurer of Marshal) '^' i'.''¥'-,' ••" ...' MAC No. 41 of 2009 v^ Memo of appeal under Section 173 of Motor Vehicle Act Present: Shri Manoj Paranjpe and Shri Vikram Dixit, counsel for the appellant. Shri Amrito Das, counsel for respondent No.3. Shri Ashok Kumar Shukla and Shri Atanu Ghosh, counsel for respondent No.4. Shri A.K. Athaley, counsel for respondent No.5. ORDER >th (19InAugust,2011) The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. Appellant/ claimant Toman Lal @ Komal is seeking enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bhatapara (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 12.08.2008, passed in Claim Case No.51/2007. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.4,59,000/- claimed by the appellant/claimant, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 18.10.2005, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.75,000/- as compensation along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 3) The Tribunal on 9 close scrutiny of the entire evidence led before it held ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Tractor bearing ^, MAC No. 41 of 2009 •-/ Engine No.4878 and Chasis No. APU 213 liabte to pay compensation to the claimant. 4) As the insurer of the above offending vehicle Tractor has not filed any appeal challenging the above finding recorded by the Tribunal, the same now has attained finality. 5) The Tribunal considering the number and nature of the injuries proved to have been sustained by the claimant in the motor accident and the amount proved to have spent on treatment, awarded lump-sum of Rs.75,000/- as compensation to the claimant for the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.75,000/- @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) Shri Manoj Paranjpe and Shri Vikram Dixit, learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the Tribunal has erred in awarding low compensation of Rs.75,000/- only though the appellanVclaimant sustained multiple serious injuries including ffacture in the motor accident resulting in permanent disability to theextentof25%. 7) Shri Amrito Das, learned counsel for respondent No.3, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Tractor, on the other hand, contended that the compensation of Rs.75,000/- awarded by the Tribunal cannot be termed as inadequate so as to warrant enhancement in'this appeal. ^'-"—?. .; MAC No. 41 of 2009 ^ 8) Shri A.K. Athaley, learned counsel for respondent No.5 the New India Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the other vehicle Marshal Jeep which was being driven by the claimant at the time of the accident and Shri Ashok Kumar Shukla and Shri Atanu Ghosh, learned counsel for respondent No.4, the owner of the Marshal Jeep supported the award. 9) Claimant Toman Lal @ Komal was aged about 29 years on the date of the accident. He was a driver by occupation. The claimant sustained multiple serious injuries including fracture of his patella bone in the motor accident is borne out from the evidence available on record. It is a matter of common knowledge that substantial amount is required to be spent on the treatment of fractures. The claimant, being a driver, could not have performed his duties as driver, on account of the fracture of his patella bone, for a period of 4-6 months, resulting in monitory loss to him. 10) The compensation of Rs.75,000/- awarded by the Tribunal when examined in the context of the above mentioned broad features of the case, in our opinion, is somewhat on the lower side and deserves to be enhanced to some extent. 11) Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter, we are of the opinion that further award of Rs. 10.000/- inclusive of interest component on the enhanced amount of compensation would make the compensation of Rs.75,000/- awarded by the Tribunal as just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. ^' MAC No. 41 of 2009 y^ 12) The appeal filed by the appellant/ claimant for enhancement of the compensation, therefore, is allowed in part. The claimant is awarded further sum of Rs.10,000/- inclusive of interest component on the enhanced amount of compensation in addition to the sum of Rs.75,000/- awarded by the Tribunal. 13) Respondent No.3 ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.10,000/- before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 14) No order as to costs. _.__—- Sd/- ChiefJustiee Sd/- Rangnath Chandrakar Judge subbu