p.^. -^b HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, CJ. & HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, J. Appellants Claimants Respondents Non-applicants Misc Appeal 10 No.577 of 2008 1 Chatrapal Yadav, 08 years, S/o Dwarika Prasad Yadav, Through Father App No.2. 2 Dwarika Prasad Yadav, 54 years, S/o Ledguram Yadav, Pacharipara, Durg VERSUS 1. Dilbagh Singh, 46 years, S/o Gurudayal Singh @ Gora, Permanent R/o PS Jhamak, Manochal, Amritsar (Punj) 2. Ashok Kumar Jain, 45 S/o Amarshing Jain Address for Service to 1 &2 : Amar Trailer Services, Shop 1, Near Jhabak Petrol Pump, Ring Road 2, Godwara, Raipur 3. Branch Manager, National Insurance Co Ltd., Divisional Office, Mobin Mahal, GE Road, Raipur Appeal under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 Present: Shri Raja Sharma, counsel for the appellants. Shri Raj Awasthi, counsel for respondent No.3. ORDER (13th June, 2011) The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. i ^ ^T This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the 12l Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Durg (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 05.09.2007, passed in Claim Case No.28/2007. 2) As against the compensation of Rs. 16,00,0007- claimed by the appellants/ claimants, unfortunate husband and son of deceased Smt Rupa Devi by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for her death in the motor accident on 06.04.2006, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.1,30,000/- as compensation to the claimants along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 3) The Tribunal by the same award dated 05.09.2007, awarded a sum of Rs.5,000/- as compensation to claimant No.1 Chatrapal Yadav for the injuries sustained by him in the same accident. 4) The Tribunal on a close scrutiny of the entire evidence led before it held that deceased Smt Rupa Devi died on account of the injuries sustained by her in the motor accident on 06.04.2006; claimant No.1 Chatrapal Yadav sustained simple injuries in the same accident; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Trailor/Truck bearing registration No.C.G.IOA/2713; as the above offending vehicle Trailor/Truck on the date of the accident was insured with the National Insurance Company Limited and the Insurance ^' T ^^^^^, ^:^ iv.^; "^te&^' ^ Company could not establish any breach ofthe policy conditions, the Insurance Company was liable to pay compensation to the claimants. 5) As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the above findings recorded by the Tribunal have now attained finality. 6) Shri Raja Sharma, learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Tribunal has erred in not accepting the claimants' evidence about the income of the deceased and in assessing her income at Rs.15,000/- per annum only; and in awarding low compensation of Rs.1,30,000/- only. 7) Shri Raj Awasthi, learned counsel for respondent No.3, the National Insurance Company Limited, the insurer ofthe offending vehicle Trailor/Truck, on the other hand, supported the award and contended that, as the claimants could not establish the income of the deceased as pleaded by them, the compensation of Rs.1,30,000/- 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. 'M. :/^k. ^. wy ''^-^3.-^1 -Q'S^jy^ y\ 9) Now we shall examine as to whether the compensation of Rs.1,30,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 10) The claimants pleaded that deceased Smt Rupa Devi used to earnRs.1,500/- per month as private teacher and the Tribunal has assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.15,000/- per annum on the basis of the notional income prescribed in the Second Schedule under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act. 11) Considering that deceased Smt Rupa Devi was aged about 51 years on the date of the accident, we are of the opinion that it was not difficult for her to earn Rs.1,500/- per month as pleaded by the claimants. We, therefore, propose to recompute the compensation taking the income of the deceased atRs.1,500/- per month and Rs.18,000/- per annum. 12) By deducting theusual 1/3rd of Rs.18,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency is assessed at Rs. 12,0007- per annum. 13) Considering that deceased Smt Rupa Devi was shown to be 51 years of age in her postmortem report, multiplier of 11 selected by the Tribunal cannot be found fault with as 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 also prescribes the multiplier of 11 for the age group between 51-55 years. y^^ ',y% .f "11 '^. . -?... ,^< ^ ;:::N^' ^^y.^ ":'::^-^"- ^o 14) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.12,000/- with the multiplier of 11, the compensation works out to Rs.1,32,000/. The claimants are further entitled to receive Rs.5,000/- for funeral expenses; Rs.5,000/- for loss of estate; and Rs.5,000/- for loss of consortium to the husband. The claimants, thus, become entitled to receive a total sum of Rs.1,47,000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Smt Rupa Devi in the motor accident. 15) The claimants are further awarded Rs.3,000/- towards quantified amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.17,000/-. 16) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensation of Rs.1,30,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.1,47,000/- with further quantified amount of interest of Rs.3,000/- on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.17,000/-. 17) Respondent No.3 the National Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.20,000/- (Rs.17,000/- towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.3,000/- towards quantified amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.17,000/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 18) No order as to costs. Sd/- Chief Justice Sd/- R.N. Chandrakar Judge subbu