^-. J^.T^ HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, C.J. & HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, J. Misc. Appeal (Cl No. 319 of 2010 Appellants Claimants 1. Jaswant Dewangan, aged about 39 .years, son of late Lala Ram Dewangan. 2. Ku. Doly @ Shivangi d/o Jaswant Dewangan, aged 5 ^ years. 3. Ma. Dulanjal son 6f Jaswant Dewangan, aged 2 ^ years. No. 2 and 3 are minor, through their natural guardian and father appellant No.1 Jashwant Dewangan All R/o. village Sonpur Road, tahsil and district Narayanpur C.G. VERSUS 1 Vajir Chand son of Jodha Ram Choudhari, aged 58 years, r/o Nayapara, tahsil and district Narayanpur C.G. 2 Smt. Sarla Jain wife of Dhanraj Jain, r/o Narayanpur, district Narayanpur C.G. 3 The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd., Branch Sadar Road, Jagdalpur, district Bastar C.G. Memo Qf^mpeal under Section 173 of Motor Vehicle Act Respondents Present: Shri Vishnu Koshta, counsel for the appellants. Shri H.P. Agrawal, counsel for respondent No.3. ORDER ith (12tnSeptember,2011) MACNo. 319 of 2010 [—• The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Kondagaon, Bastar (forshort 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 30.01.2010, passed in Claim Case No.20/2008. 2) As against the compensation of Rs. 19,26,0407- claimed by the appellants/ claimants, unfortunate husband and minor children of deceased Smt. Shanti, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for her death in the motor accident on 30.08.2008, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.50,000/- 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 a close scrutiny of the entire evidence led before it held that deceased Smt. Shanti died on account of the injuries sustained by her in the motor accident on 30.08.2008; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Bus bearing registration No.CG-07/ZA- 0311; as the above offending vehicle Bus on the date of the accident was insured with the Oriental Insurance Company Limited and the Insurance Company could not establish any breach of the policy conditions, the Insurance Company was liable to pay compensation to the claimants. ^^^s,^ y^^ '""&; t' ^ ^ij^ 'x, ^ ^.. '^-y MACNo. 319 of 2010 4) As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the above findings recorded by the Tribunal have now attained finality. 5) The Tribunal considering that claimant No.1 Jaswant Dewangan, husband of deceased Smt. Shanti was having his own independent income from agriculture and as such, was not dependent on the income ofthe deceased, awarded lump-sum of Rs.50,000/- as compensation to the claimants for the death of deceased Smt. Shanti in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.50,000/- @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) Shri Vishnu Koshta, learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Tribunal has erred in awarding a meager amount of Rs.50,000/- only as compensation to the claimants by holding that the claimants were not dependent in any manner on deceased Smt. Shanti. 7) Shri H.P.Agrawal, learned counsel for respondent No.3, the Oriental Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Bus, on the other hand, supported the award contended that as the claimants could not establish their dependency on the deceased and her income, the compensation of Rs.50,000/- 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 MACNo. 319 of 2010 L. 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. 9) Now we shall examine as to whether the compensation of Rs.50,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 10) Deceased Smt. Shanti was aged about 32 years on the date of the accident. The claimants are her husband and two minor children, aged about 39 years, 5 Vz years and 2 Vz years, respectively. The claimants pleaded that deceased Smt. Shanti used to earn Rs.4,864/- per month as Shiksha Karmi. It is true that the claimants could not establish the above occupation of the deceased and her income to the extent of Rs.4,864/- per month as no Officer/ Personnel of the Government Department was examined before the Tribunal for establishing that the deceased was working as Shiksha Karmi and was getting the salary of Rs.4,864/- per month. 11) The Tribunal certainly has erred in holding that the claimants were not at all dependent on deceased Smt. Shanti. Even if, it is assumed that deceased Smt. Shanti was not having any independent income of her own, the husband and children of the deceased were certainly dependent on her and her services provided as house-hold lady everyday. The claimants, in our opinion, therefore were certainly entitled to get compensation for the death of deceased Smt. Shanti. "-^^ MACNo.319of2010 K. 12) For the purposes of assessment of compensation payable to the claimants, we deem it proper to assume the notional income of deceased Smt. Shanti at Rs.2,000/- per month and Rs.24,000/- per annum as she could have easily earned that much of income even by working as an unskilled labour in the village. 13) As claimant No.1 Jaswant Dewangan is husband of the deceased and was admittedly having his own independent income from agriculture and claimants No.2and 3, the daughter and son of the deceased were primarily dependent on their father, we deem it proper to deduct 50% of the income of the deceased towards her personal expenses. The claimants' dependency, therefore, is assessed at Rs.12,000/- per annum. 14) Considering that claimant No.1 Jaswant Dewangan, husband of the deceased was shown to be 39 years of age in the claim petition, we are ofthe opinion that multiplier of 15 would be appropriate in the present case in view of 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 wherein multiplier of 15 has been prescribed for the age group between 36-40 years. 15) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.12,000/- with the multiplier of 15, the compensation works out to Rs.1,80,000/-. The claimants are further entitled to receive Rs.5,000/- towards funeral expenses; Rs.5,000/- for loss of estate; and Rs.5,000/- for loss of consortium to the husband. The '%^J^^" -'^sN.^;'^ MACNo. 319 of 2010 claimants, thus, become entitled to receive a total sum of Rs.1,95,000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Smt. Shanti in the motor accident. 16) Learned counsel for the parties submitted that with a view to avoid any possible .dispute between the parties before the Tribunal about the period for which the claimants are entitled to receive interest on the enhanced amount of compensation, the amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation may be quantified in this appeal itself. 17) Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter, including the delay in disposal of the claim petition, and the present appeal and the fact thatthe Insurance Company alone is not to be blamed for the entire delay in the matter, we quantify the amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,45,000/- at Rs.15,000/-. 18) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensation of Rs.50,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.1,95,000/- with further quantified amount of interest of Rs.15,000/- on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,45,000/-. 19) Respondent No.3 the Oriental Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.1,60,000/- (Rs.1,45,000/- towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.15,000/- towards quantified amount of .^.^.^;.^,^ .^s^- /'•r^ ^ v^ Sm ,. '-^^'^ ^' .-^lr MACNo. 319 of 2010 interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,45,000/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 20) No order as to costs. Sd/- Chief Justice Sd/- R.N. Chandrakar Judge subbu