HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI N.K. AGARWAL & HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, JJ. Appellants Misc. Appeal (0 No. 910 of 2008 1 Bhadurnath @ Bahadur Nath, s/o Sidunath, aged about 30 years, Caste Sapera 2 Smt Rekha, w/o Shri Bhadurnath @ Bahadur Nath, aged about 28 years, Caste Sapera Both r/o Village Jhalara, Post Tanodiya, PS Kanad, Tahsil Agar, District Sajapur(MP) At present village Dodka - Chaura, Tahsil Jashpur, District Jashpur (CG) VERSUS 1 Kirti Bhushan Kerketta, s/o Serafinus Kerketta, aged about 35 years, R/o village Gholeng, Tahsil Jashpur, District - Jashpur (CG) 2 Subodh Frenklin Kerketta, s/o Serafinus Kerketta, Caste - Uraon, aged about 33 years, Occupation - Driver R/o Village Gholeng, Tahsil Jashpur, District Jashpur (CG) 3 The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Local Branch Office, Raigarh (Miscellaneous Appeal u/S. 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act) Present : Shri Roshan Verma, counsel for the appellants. Smt Chitra Shrivastava, counsel for respondent No.3. Respondents ORDER (Passedon 25-11-2011) •V \ ^:^a^33.iiii^y.^55lUl^i^^J' &KUH^^i^yfl^(aiLWU^USiLy'%fSE^-i;S4^^fcy@^UK^^ ^.^ass^Twu.tcawsa^sae-s^^^w^is^^^S^fS^'^K^^ -°-? '"~y. \; ^y The following order of the Court was passed by N.K. Agarwal, J. This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jashpur-Nagar, district Jashpur (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 01.05.2008, passed in Claim Case No.25/2007. As against the compensation of Rs.13,30,000/- claimed by the appellants/claimants, unfortunate parents of deceased girl Kumari Laxmi, aged about five years, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for her death in the motor accident on .16.04.2007, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.1,14,500/- as compensation along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. The Tribunal on a close scrutiny of the entire evidence led before it held that the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Jeep bearing registration No.CG-04/A 6115 by its driver Subddh Frenklin Kerketta i.e., respondent No.2; deceased Kumari Laxmi died onaccount of the •injuries sustained by her in the motor accident on 1 6.04.2007; as the above offending vehicle Jeep at the time of the accident was insured with respondent No.3/The Oriental Insurance Company Limited was liable to pay compensation to the claimants as it could not establish any breach of the policy conditions; assessed and awarded the aforesaid sum as compensation to the appellants/claimants. .-^: T-S?~^3S: 1 nt,l,8«~®K2 ,. ::KI^-^^fe.^'^A^SBStS^ituU^diyiiWUiiWBiWl^^ SBil'.IWMBatilri^BKSI.tS^i^ECiBS.!^ 4. Shri Roshan Verma, learned counsel for the appellants would submit; the amount of compensation of Rs.1,14,500/- awarded by the Tribunal for the death of appellants' daughter Kumari Laxmi is shockingly on the lower side which deserves to be suitably enhanced. 5. On the other hand, Smt Chitra Shrivastava, learned counsel for respondent No.3 contended that deceased Kumari Laxmi was aged about five years as per postmortem report and therefore, the amount of Rs.1,14.500/- awarded by the Tribunal itself is on the higher side and the appeal deserves to be dismissed. 6. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the records ofthe Tribunal including the award impugned. 7. The fact that Kumari Laxmi died on account of the injuries sustained by her in the motor accident on 14.06.2007 and respondent No.3 the Oriental Insurance Company Limited failed to prove any violation of policy conditions are not in dispute now. 8. As per postmortem report, Kumari Laxmi was aged about five years at the time of accident. The Apex Court while considering as to what would be the just and proper compensation for the death of a child aged about 7 years in the case of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. V. Syed Ibrahim and others reported in 2007 (4) T.A.C. 385 (S.C.) observed in paras.9 & 10 : "9. This Court in Lata Wadhwa while computing compensation made distinction between the deceased children falling within the age group of 5 to 10 years and age group of 10 to 15 years. \'-, \: ^: 4 @ 9. 10. In cases of young children of tender age, in view of uncertainties about, neither their income at the time of death nor the prospects of the future increase in their income nor chances of advancement of their career are capable of proper determination on estimated basis. The reason is that at such an early age, the uncertainties in regard to their academic pursuits, achievements in career and thereafter advancement in life are so many that nothing can be assumed with reasonable certainty. Therefore, neither is the income of the deceased child capable of assessment on estimated basis nor is the financial loss suffered by the parents capable of mathematical computation." The Apex Couri: in the case of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. V. Syed Ibrahim and others (supra), held that the compensation of Rs.51,500/- was just and proper compensation for the death of a child aged about seven years. The Tribunal awarded Rs.1,14.500/- in the instant case by taking notional income of the deceased as Rs.15,000/- per annum as prescribed in the Second Schedule under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act. After deducting 1/3rd of Rs.15,000/- towards her personal expenses, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.10,000/- per annum; after applying multiplier of 10, the compensation on account of loss of dependency works out to Rs.1,00,000/-; further the Tribunal awarded Rs.14,500/- under other heads; thus, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.1,14,500/- as compensation to the claimants. •V \: ^•-i....^^aWMfcjiia^^Ba^.A^'"-^^ »-yfe'i^tU»«*s*M*nuiaB,^^ ijWi^sawpaMf,^>Buuinui,udKUU!iMiuUU-aHiuta«i d.«MWUuu»a m«!Hsw raju li'A, 10. The compensation of Rs.1,14,500/- awarded by the Tribunal when examined in the light of the above quoted dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. V. Syed Ibrahim and others (supra), in our opinion, cannot be termed as inadequate so as to warrant enhancement in this appeal. 11. As we do not find any scope for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Tribunal, the appeal filed by the appellants/claimants for enhancement of the compensation is liable to be dismissed and is hereby dismissed. 12. No order as to costs. Sd/- N.K-AgarwaI Judge R.N. C "s*- --•'•y .'••»•V ?!»...