FAO No.25 of 1999 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.25 of 1999 DATE OF DECISION: March 15, 2011 UNITED INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. ...APPELLANT VERSUS TEJ PAL SINGH AND OTHERS ...RESPONDENTS CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN. 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgement? No 2. To be referred to the reporters or not? No 3. Whether the judgement should be reported in the digest? No ---- PRESENT: MR. SANJIV PABBI, ADVOCATE FOR THE APPELLANT. NONE FOR RESPONDENT NO.1. MR. BHAG SINGH, ADVOCATE FOR RESPONDENTS NO.2 & 3. K.KANNAN, J.(ORAL) 1. The insurance company had the benefit of defence under Section 170 and is in appeal challenging the quantum assessed for a fracture of thumb. The claimant was said to be a farmer and was cultivating his land and doing Bee farming. He had also received training in Bee farming from Government Institute. The Tribunal assessed his income to be `80,000/- per year. While assessing the compensation the Tribunal found that he had a disability of 20% which must have meant also 20% loss of earning capacity. He was 39 years of age and the Tribunal assessed a multiplier of 16. The Tribunal provided for `10,000/- for medicines, `20,000/- for pain & suffering and `1,92,000/- for loss of earning capacity. 2. In my view, the assessment of compensation is unscientific and FAO No.25 of 1999 -2- wrong. A fracture of thumb cannot be treated as a complete functional loss of the thumb in the same manner as amputation would be rated. The Doctor's certification that he suffered 20% disability cannot, therefore, be accepted even if there was a functional loss of the thumb. For the inconvenience that could be caused to a person by such loss, I will accord `10,000/-. I will also provide with another `10,000/- for pain & suffering and retain `10,000/- as awarded by the Tribunal for medicines. I will hold the compensation shall be only `30,000/- and it is tabulated as follows:- Injury Cases Age: Period of Hospitalization Occupation & Income - Heads of Claim Tribunal High Court Sr.No. Amount ` Amount ` 1. Loss of income from to 2. Medical Expenses: (i) Medicines 10,000 10,000 (ii) Hospital Charges (iii) Attendant Charges (iv) Special Diet 3. Transport 4. Pain & Suffering – per fracture/per surgery 20,000 10,000 5. Disability 6. Loss of earning capacity 10,000 Income x % of loss of earning power x multiplier 7. Reduction in life expectancy/Loss of amenities 1,92,000 8. Loss of prospect of marriage Total 30,000/- 3. The award is modified and the appeal is allowed restricting the claim of compensation at `30,000/- with interest as awarded by the FAO No.25 of 1999 -3- Tribunal. 4. The liability shall be in the same manner as determined by the Tribunal. March 15, 2011 (K.KANNAN) Gulati JUDGE