IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.K.BASHEER & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.Q.BARKATH ALI TUESDAY, THE 7TH SEPTEMBER 2010 / 16TH BHADRA 1932 MACA.No. 1830 of 2007() ----------------------- OPMV.728/2000 of MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, THALASSERY .................... APPELLANT(S): PETITIONERS -------------- 1. K.K.ABDUL KAREEM (DIED),S/O.UMMER, AGED 70 YEARS,MATTOOL SOUTH AMSOM,KANNUR TALUK. 2. A.C.AYISHA,W/O.LATE ABDUL KAREEM, AGED 57 YEARS. 3. ALEEMA,AGD 42 YEARS. 4. THAHIRA,AGED 40 YEARS. 5. SHEREEF,AGED 37 YEARS/ 6. JUBERIYA,AGED 35 YEARS. 7. REHMATH,AGED 34 YEARS. 8. NAJMA,AGED 33 YEARS. 9. RASIYA,AGED 32 YEARS/ 10. NUSRATH,AGED 30 YEARS. 11. SHUHAIBA,AGED 25 YEARS, ALL ARE RESIDING AT MATTOOL AMSOM DESOM BY ADV. SRI.PHILJO VARUGHESE PHILIPS RESPONDENT(S): THIRD RESPONDENT --------------- NATIONAL INSURANCE CO.LTD, NORTH PARAVOOR BRANCH OFFICE,MUNICIPAL SHOPPING COMPLEX,NORTH PARAVOOR,ERNAKULAM. ADV. SRI.P.JAYASANKAR THIS MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 07/09/2010, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: A.K.BASHEER & P.Q.BARKATH ALI, JJ. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - M.A.C.A.No.1830 OF 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dated this the 7th day of September, 2010 JUDGMENT Basheer, J. This appeal is at the instance of the legal representatives of a victim of a motor accident which occurred on July 10, 1998. The victim was knocked down by the offending vehicle, which was driven by respondent No.1 and owned by respondent No.2. Admittedly, the vehicle stood insured with respondent No.3. 2. The injured victim claimed compensation to the tune of Rs. 4,50,000/- from the respondents alleging that he had been totally bed ridden due to the grievous injuries sustained by him, particularly one on his head. 3. The claim petition was instituted in the year 2000. During the pendency of the claim petition, the victim passed away in 2005. Thereafter, the claim petition was prosecuted by the legal representatives, who are the appellants before us. 4. The Tribunal after considering the documentary evidnece MACA.No.1830/2007 2 namely Exts.A1 to A5 produced by the appellants and Ext.B1 produced by the respondents awarded a sum of Rs.20,550/- with interest @ 7% from the date of petition till the date of realisation. Respondent No.3, Insurance Company was directed to indemnify the owner of the vehicle and pay the compensation to the appellants. 5. It may at once be noticed that the injury suffered by the victim ( now deceased) appears to be quite serious from the documents that are available before us. Reference may be made to the CT scan report ( Ext.A3) of the head taken on the day of the accident itself. the scan stood revealed “ a hyper dense lesion in the paraventricular area.” The impression in the report was recorded by the Radiologist as here under : “C.T. features are suggestive of a right paraventricular haemorrhage contusion.” 6. The specific case of the claimant before the Tribunal in the claim petition was that he had been treated by doctor I.G.Bhat, Neurologist at Mangalore and that even after undergoing prolonged treatment, he had not recovered. It was also stated that even on the date MACA.No.1830/2007 3 of institution of the claim petition, he was bed ridden and treatment was continuing. 7. But it was noticed by the Tribunal that no document was produced on the side of the claimant to show that he had undergone any treatment at Mangalore. Still further, the documents produced on behalf of the claimant did not show that he had undergone any prolonged treatment for neurological problems. Still worse, there is no material available before us to show that the claimant was totally bedridden and disabled because of the accident. But it is an undisputed fact that the poor victim did not recover from the after effect of the accident and he passed away because of the complications of the head injury suffered by him. 8. Learned counsel for the claimant made an impassioned plea to take a lenient view because of the impecunious circumstances of the appellants. It is pointed out by the counsel that 4 or 5 of the appellants are suffering from scoliosis and there was nobody to take care of them in order to help them to prosecute the case. In fact, learned counsel has a further case that all the documents were handed MACA.No.1830/2007 4 over to the counsel, who represented the claimant before the Tribunal. But no documents are seen produced. Learned counsel has handed over to us a photocopy of another CT scan report dated September 2, 1999. The said scan report is issued by Balmatta Diagnosis & Research Centre Ltd. in Mangalore. The photocopy is not fully readable. But the “impression” recorded therein indicates that the injury suffered by the victim had resulted in contusion/gliosis. 9. We hasten to add that we do not propose to decide the issue or fix the quantum of compensation under the head of disability on the basis of this document. But we have referred to this document only to indicate that the nature of the head injury suffered by the deceased victim was undoubtedly of a grievous nature. We may be justified in making such an assumption from the entires made in the Accident Register cum Wound certificate ( Ext.A1) issued by the doctor on his examination shortly after the accident. Having regard to the entire facts and circumstances of the case, we are satisfied that the appellants can be awarded a sum of Rs. 25,000/- as a lump sum compensation under Section 140 of the Act MACA.No.1830/2007 5 in addition to what has been awarded by the Tribunal under various heads. We do so. The award is modified to the above extent. The award amount shall carry interest @ 7.5% from the date of petition till realisation. A.K.BASHEER, JUDGE P.Q.BARKATH ALI, JUDGE sv. MACA.No.1830/2007 6