Civil Revision No.5657 of 2000 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Revision No.5657 of 2000 Date of Decision:29th October, 2009 National Insurance Company Limited, Regional Office, Chandigarh ........Petitioner Versus Smt. Usha Sharma and others .......Respondents Before: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIVE BHALLA Present: Mr. Harsh Aggarwal, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. N.K.Sanghi, Advocate for the respondents no. 1 to 4. Rajive Bhalla, J.(Oral) The National Insurance Company has filed this revision petition to challenge the award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Narnaul, dated 03.03.2000, awarding compensation of Rs. 7,30,000/- with interest @ 12 % per annum from the date of the petition upto its realisation. The only argument advanced by counsel for the petitioner is that the income tax return Ex.PA records income from salary as Rs. 24,000/- and income from other sources as Rs. 39578/-. It is submitted that income from other sources has to be excluded as this income accrued from fixed assets, which have devolved upon the claimants/respondents. It is argued that a claim for compensation is based upon loss of income but as Civil Revision No.5657 of 2000 2 income from fixed assets does not cease to accrue, the Tribunal committed an error of jurisdiction in including this amount, while computing the income of the deceased. Counsel for respondents no. 1 to 4, on the other hand, submits that apart from the fact that no such ground has been pleaded in the revision petition, the petitioner has not produced any evidence that the income from other sources was derived from fixed assets that have devolved upon the respondents. I have heard counsel for the parties and perused the award. The only argument raised by counsel for the petitioner is that the amount of Rs. 39578/- has to be excluded from the annual income of the deceased, as it reflects accrual of income from fixed assets that have devolved upon the deceased. It is true that the income tax return Ex.PA contains two sets of income namely Rs.24,000/- as salary and Rs. 39578/- as income from other sources. The argument that this figure of Rs. 39578/- reflects income from fixed assets was neither raised before the Tribunal nor is it pleaded in the grounds of revision. Even otherwise, it was for the petitioner to have produced evidence, to show that this income accrued from fixed assets but instead the income tax return Ex.PA was admitted into evidence, without any objection in the evidence of PW-3 P.S.Krishnamurti, an officer from the income tax office, ITO Ward 112 Delhi. The petitioner did not raise any objection or urge before the Tribunal that the income tax return did not reflect the true loss of income to the claimants. It would also be necessary to mention here that PW-1 Civil Revision No.5657 of 2000 3 Amit Kumar, son of the deceased has deposed that the deceased had various sources of income, as he owned an import and export business in the name of M/s Ram Rattan Overseas Private Limited, New Delhi, was also a contractor in the name of M/s Leagand Engineering Private Limited at Panipat and was also running firms in Nepal namely Baba Rameshwar Khad Udyog Limited Nepalganj and Maruti Refinery Private Limited Nepalganj, Nepal. The source of income was never disputed by addressing any question to the witnesses or producing any evidence of fixed assets that devolved upon the claimants. In the absence of any evidence, to support the argument raised by counsel for the petitioner and that no such ground has been pleaded in the petition, the revision petition is dismissed with no order as to costs. [RAJIVE BHALLA] JUDGE 29th October, 2009 Shivani Kaushik