^ %, i "^&s^^ | ^ w^& •'^^ HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, C.J. HON'BLE SHRS RANGNATK CHANDRAKAR, J Appellants Claimants •^ Misc Appeal (C) No. 742 of 2010 1 Gopal Ram Son of Shri Jagan Ram, aged 45 years 2 Smt Meera, wife of Gopal Ram, aged 40 years 3 Smt Dhaneshwari, wife of late Jawahar Lal, aged about 19 years All caste Rajwar R/o Village Karoti, PS Bhaiyathan, Tahsil Surajpur, District Surguja (CG) ^ Respondents Non-applicants VERSUS 1 New India Insurance Co Ltd., through the Branch Manager, Branch - Budhar Road, Shahdol (MP) (Insurer) 2 Rajendra Prasad Gupta, son of Gokul Prasad Gupta, r/o Jaisingh Nagar, District Shahdol (MP) (Owner) 3 Tirath Singh, son of Shyam Lal r/o Shahdol (MP) (Driver) 4 United India Insurance Company Limited, through the Branch Manager, Gurunanak Chowk, Budhar Road, Shahdol (MP) 5 Dharamvir Kumar, son of Ram Naresh Singh, aged about 35 years, Caste Rajput, R/o Ward No.1, Pratappur Road, Ambikapur, District Surguja (CG) Miscellaneous Appeal ynder Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act ~—-sl<|j ,^,- ^^ ^..., '•^^- ^c' MACNo.742of2010 z- (• Present : Shri Ashok Kumar Shukla and Shri Atanu Ghosh, counsel for the appellants. Shri Saurabh Sharma, counsel for respondent No.1. ORDER »nd (02naAugust,2011) 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 2nd Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Surajpur, district Surguja (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 01.04.2010, passed in CIaim Case No.2/2009. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.9,94,000/-, claimed by the appellants/claimants, unfortunate widow and parents of deceased Jawahar Lal, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for his death in the motor accident on 17.09.2008, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.3,95,000/- as compensation along with interest @ 7.5% per annum from the date of flling 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 Jawahar Lal died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 17.09.2008; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent act of the driver of the offending vehicle truck bearing registration No.MP-18 HO/0521 as he had parked his truck in the middle of the road without any MACNo.742of2010 c]^ 4/ indication; as the above offending vehicle truck on the date of the accident was insured with the New India 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.3,000/- per month and Rs.36,000/- per annum. By deducting 1/3rd of Rs.36,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.24,000/- per annum. By multiplying theannual dependency of Rs.24,000/- with the multipljer of 15, the compensation was worked out to Rs.3,60,000/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.35,000/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.3,95,000/-, as compensation to the claimants for the death of deceased Jawahar Lal in the motor accident. The Tribunal, further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.3,95,000/- @ 7.5% per annum from the date of the filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) Shri Ashok Kumar Shukla and Shri Atanu Ghosh, learned counsel for the appellants submitted that though the Tribunal has rightly assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.3,000/- per month ancl Rs.36,000/- per annum and the claimants' dependency at Rs.24,000/- per annum, it has erred in selecting the lower \ \ MACNo.742of2010 (a' multiplier of 15 as deceased Jawahar Lal on the date of the accident was aged about 24 years only. 7) Shri Saurabh Sharma, learned counsel for respondent No.1 the New tndia Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle truck on the other hand contended that the compensation of Rs.3,95,000/-, awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the case. 8) Though learned counsel for the appellants have not challenged the assessment of the income of the deceased and the claimants' dependency by the Tribunal, for our satisfaction, we have examined the material available on record about the income of the deceased and we are satisfied that the Tribunal has rightly assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.3,000/- per month and Rs.36,000/- per annum and the claimants' dependency at Rs.24,000/- perannum. 9) Nevertheless, the multiplier of 15 selected by the Tribunal consjdering that deceased Jawahar Lal was aged about 24 years only, is certainly on the lower side and requires reconsideration. 10) The dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt) and others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another reported in (2009) 8 Supreme Court Cases 121 prescribes multiplier of 18 for the age group between 21 -25 years. In our opinion, the multiplier of 18 would be appropriate in the present case. -^^. 0 ^--...^ 1 ^s^^ MACNo.742of2010 11) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.24,000/- with the multiplier of 18, the compensation works out to Rs.4,32,000/-. The claimants are further entitled to receive Rs.5,000/- towards funeral expenses; Rs.5,000/- towards loss of consortium to the widow; and Rs.5,000/- for loss of estate. The claimants, thus, become entitled to receive a total sum of Rs.4,47,000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Jawahar Lal 'in the motor accident. 12) Learned counsel for the parties submitted thatwith a view to avoid any possible dispute between the parties 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. 13) 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 the 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.52,000/- at Rs.8,000/-. 14) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed bythe appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensation of Rs.3,95,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.4,47,000/- with further quantified amount of interest of Rs.8,000/- on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.52,000/-. MACNo.742 of 2010 15) Respondent No.1 the New India Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.60,000/- (Rs.52,000/- towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.8,000/- towards quantified amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.52,000/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 16) No order as to costs. Sd/- Chief Justice Sd/- R.N. Chandrakar Judge ^padma