.BSBIt-.UiiiAi 11tll MIOTffniI IMtB*,»/<Mti(i«nta.!U«llu<N»>UIM'Jul!^;iM>»t««ilB.U^^uiri r HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BiLASPUR DIVJSION BENCH CORAlVi: H0 iLl SLES EEV GUPTA, C.J. & ,J. Misc. Appeal No. 276 of 2004 1 ApDellants Claimants 1 ^! Resppndents Non-appiicanfs 1. 2. 3. Shanti bai Mehar widow of Sri Soni Lal aged about 25 years, Bhagat Ram Mehar s/o late Soni Lal aged about 8 yeare, Mukesh Kumar Mehar S/o late Soni Lal aged about 5 ^ears, appeltant nos. 2 & 3 are represented hereby legal guardian mother, appellant no.1. Chait Ram S/o Sri Narad Mehar aged about 55 years. Ahilya Bai W/o Chait Ram Mehar aged about 50 years. All residence are village - Mathpurena near Halka Talab, Thana Tikrapara; Post Sunder Nagar, Distt. Raipur (C.G.) Sudhakar Kumhar S/o Sri Sundar Kumhar, aged about 45 years,| occupation Truck Driver, R/p Bombay Garage, Ring Road No.2,; Tahsil & Distt. Raipur (C.G.) - Shri Krishna Biswal S/o Sri Sadashiv Biswal, aged about 40 yeare, R/O| Bombay Garage Rlng Rqad No.2, Tahsil & Distt. Raipur (C.G.) The Oriental tnsurance Co. Limited,! through Divisionai Manager,| Divisional Office, Kachahari Chow(<,' JaiiRoad, Raipur(C.G.) 1 .]W1{<^Wf^t»^9-S: ^' A..^>L-.Il—.ll ^ 4. Shambhagat Agrawal through Manish Enterprises Farishta Complex, G.E. Road, Raipur. 5. The National Insurance Co. Limited., Divisional Office Divislonal Manager, Mobin Mahal, G.E. Road, Raipur (C.G.) f Appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act. 1988 Present: Shri Shivendu Pandya, learned counsel forthe appe!!ants. Shri Sudhir Agrawal, counsel for respondent No.3. Shri Raj Awasthi, learned counse! for respondent No.5. ORDER |St (21" September, 2010) The following order of the Court was passed by RajeevGupta,C.J. This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensatjon awarded by the First Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunat; Raipur (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 10.10.2003, passed in Ciaim Case No. 25/2003. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.17,00,000/- ctaimed by the appellants/ctaimants, unfortunate widow, minor children and parents of deceased Sonu @ Sonila! Mehar, by filing a claim petition under Section 166of the Motor Vehides Act, for his death in the motor accident on 18.08.2001, the Tribunalawarded a total sum of Rs.1,48,000/- as compensation along with interest ;y>3S'li!:IS& "'-i;>-.: ./" ji .-;L. ii-.iil 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 Sonu @ Sonilal Mehar died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 18.08.2001; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Truck bearing registration No.OAS-2877; as the above offending vehicle Truck on ihe 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. 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 assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.1,500/- per month and Rs.18,000/- per annum. By deducting 1/3 of Rs.18,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.12,000/- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.12,000/- with the multiplier of 12, the compensation was worked out to Rs.1,44,000/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.4,000/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.1,48,000/- as compensation to the daimants for the death .^1 II 'i ....J.;l.-i-i;ll-dl of deceased Sonu @ Sonilal Mehar in the motor accident. The Tribunai further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation 6f Rs.1,48,000/- @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition tilt the date of actual payment. 6) Shri Shivendu Pandya, 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 his income at Rs.1,500/- per month and Rs.18,000/- per annum only; in seiecting the lower multiplier of 12; and in awarding lowcompensation of Rs.1,48,000/- only. 7) Shri Sudhir Aarawal, learned counsel for respondent No.3 the Oriental tnsurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Truck bearing registration No.OAS-2877, on the other hand supported the award and contended that the compensation of Rs.1,48,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 8) Shri Raj Awasthi, learned counsel for respondent No.5- National Insurance Company Limlted, the insurer of the Jeep |n which the deceased was travelling also supported the award. \ 9) True, the claimants pleaded that deceased Sonu @ Sonilal Mehar used to earn Rs.150/-per day as Coolie, the evidence|led in that behalfwas not of clinching nature. We, therefore, do|n|3t ..».:.i-.*-S,i,aR»!B;- !TO!,6l>i.lf*<tas*»*.- (*A^Eril5.^d ^^••:^?r^^ri^.-d^A^..-.,-<, i.^;"-?'a. J.rl^i. %) find any fault in the approach of the Tribunal in discarding the claimants' evidence aboutthe income ofthe deceased. 10) Nevertheless, the income of the deceased assessed by the Tribunal at Rs.1,500/- per month and Rs.18,000/- per annum in the year 2001 is certainly on the tower side and requires reconsideration. 11) Considering that deceased Sonu @ Sonilal Mehar was aged about 32 years on the date of the accident, we are of the opinion that he could have easily earned Rs.2,C)00/- per month even by working as an unskit!ed labour. We, therefore, propose to recompute the compensation taking the income of the deceased at Rs.2,000/- per month and Rs.24,000/- per annum. 12) By deducting the usual 1/3rd of Rs.24,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency is assessed at Rs.16,000/- per annum. 13) Considering the age of the deceased, his widow, their children and parents of the deceased, we are of the opinion that the multiplier of 15 would be appropriate in the present case. 14) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.16,000/- with the multiplier of 15, the compensation works out to Rs.2,40,000/-. The claimants are further entitled to recelve Rs.5,000/- towards funeral expenses; Rs.5,000/- for loss of estate; and Rs.5,000/- for loss of consortium to the widow. Thectaimants, thus, becomel entitled to receive a totat sum of Rs.2,55,000/- as compensatioh| • " f"";-^. r"^ '~vi5ySSSwSi'K.' v-i ^SBKt: K ilj i l!fe;ISSB!i"''l ||iJ|T1''11'i-t^?r1 t% .i^.::ih^l.u-iM for the death of deceased Sonu @ Sonilal Mehar in the motor accident. 15) Learned counsel for the parties submitted that with a view to avoid any possible dispute between the parties about the period for which the ciaimants are entitled to receive interest on the enhanced amount of compensation, the amount of interest on She entianced amount of compensation may be quantified in this appeat itself. 16) Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter, including the delay in disposal of the claim petition and the present appeal and the fact that 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. 1,07,000/- at Rs. 13,000/-. 17) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal fiied by the appeliants/ claimants forenhancement of the compensation is altowed in part. The compensation of Rs.1,48,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.2,55,000/- with further quantified amount of interest of Rs.13,000/- on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,07,000/-. 18) Respondent No.3 The Oriental Insurance Company Limited! is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.1,20,000/- (Rs.1,07,000/—towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.13,000/- towards quantified amount of! 8 > interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,07,000/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 19) No order as to costs. sa/- OuefJustice Sd/- R.N. Chandrakar Judge z.