tCI ^.!;^£ ^ ry SS>L»£ AM?;hrATLI f'UAM i n ^nMi^i^^J-i.n.M.?^.,'^ MiscAj 2UC Claimants 2. 5 Srht Savita Shrivas Wd/o iate Sharad Shrivas, aged 34 years, House wife Kumari Pooja, D/o iate Sharad Shrivas, aged about 14 years, Student Kumari Shradd'na, D/o iate Sharad ShriVSS, 3Q9d 8bOUt 13 ly98f8, StlldsHt Kumari Shweta, D/o Late Sharad Shrivas, aged about 11 years, Student Kumari Shikha, D/o Late Shc •S^A.-^ -S'rt-IS E' ~7 "&'2?-C> Q4! '^An* »nnv:s5i»,cfl^^u ai^vu.^ s ysicaiis, Oi.uy^UL yKumari Priya, D/o Late Sharad Shrivas, aged about 4 years, Student liffii loshan Shrivas, S/o Shrivas, aged about 1 year two mont'ns Appeliant No.2 to 7, are minor represnted -by their mother appeilant No.1 .- Kangaiu Shrivas, S/o Shivprasad Shrlvas, aged about 71 years AIS are R/o •Viiiaae - Kaidimuaa, '-* Raigarh, Distt Ralgarh (CG) is 1 Mukhtar Ali, S/o Abdul Muila, aged 26 r^.-u yers, uroupaT.ii Kaldimuda, Rataarh Driver, R/o 2 Anup Kumgr Sahu, S/o Budhram Sahu, aaed 25 years, Occupation Vehicle owner, R/o Kaidlmuda, R.algarh 3 United india insurance Company Ltd., Thmii i i II ^. Iranch --iVianafler, Branch "e', isite uopi i aiKies, Kaigarn, DlstS Raigarh icSeAs 'nt : SmtMeena Shastri, counseifbrtheappeliants. Shri Basant Dewana.an, counsel for respondents No.1 and 2. Shri H.B. A.qra'wal, Senior Counsei v/ith Smt. Jaiswai, counsei for respondent No.3. tin \ ' ft.U) is followlna order of the Court was passed bv toieev This is ciaimants' a.0Deai ancement OT tne compensation awarded by the Second Additional Motor Accident Ciaims Tribunai, Raigarh (for short 'the Tribunal') vlde award dated 28.09:2004, passed in Cialm Case No. 11/2004. 2) As against the.compensation of Rs.29,43.000/-, claimed by the a.D.Dellants/ciaimants, unfortunate Vi'idow, minor children and father of,deceased Sharad Shrivas, by filing a clalm petltion under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for his death on 02.10.2003 on'account ofthe Injuries sustained bv him in the motor accident on 01.10.2003. the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.2,95,000/'- as ^./ .^'.'r compensation aiona with interest ®.9% per annum from the dats ofthe fiiing ofthe ciaim petition tili the date of actuai payment. i) The Tribunal on a ciose scrutiny of the entire evidence led before it held that deceased Sharad Shrivas died on 02.10.2003 on account ofthe injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 01.10.2003; the acddent occurred due to rash and negiigent driving of ths motorcyclist of the motorcycie bearing registratlon No.CG-13-B/l828; as the above offendlng vehicie motorcycle on the date of the accident was Insured wifh the United india Ensurance Companv Limited, and the insurance Companv couid not estabfish any breach of the poiicy conditions, the insurance Companv was iiable to pav compensation to the ciasmants. 4) As the respondents have not fiied any appeai against thf award, the^above findings recorded by the Tribunai have now attalned fEnalitv. 5) The Tribunai assessed the income of the deceased af Rs.2,250/- per rnonth and Rs.27,000/'- per annum. By deducting 1,''3ro or Rs.27,000./- towards the .personal expenses or' the deceased, tne ciaimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.18,000/- per annum. 'By muitipiying the annuai dependency of Rs.18,000.'- with ine multiplier of 16, the compensation was worked out io Rs.2,88;000/-. By'awarding furthersum of Rs.7,000/- under oiher heads, the Tribunal awarded a tot'ai sum of Rs.2,95,000/- a-s compensation to the ciaimants for the death of deceased Sharad Shnvas in the motor accident. The Tribunai further directed psyment -of interest on the above amount of compensation of nirii Rs.2,95,000/- ® 9% per annum from the date of the filina of tra claim petltion till the date of actuai payment. ») Smt SVieena Shastri, learned counsel for the appeilants -9 submitted that the Tribunal has erred in not accepting the claimants' evldence about the income of the deceased and In assessing his income at Rs.2,250/- per mont'n and Rs.27,000/- per sn-nu-m onlv^ In dsductlna 1?3r of ths l-ncom© of ths dscssssd towards his personal expenses; in awarding iow sum of Rs.7,000/- oniy under ot'ner 'neads; and In avrfarding low compensation of Rs.2,95,000/-oniy. 6) Shri HB Agrawai, learned Senior Counset Vi'ith Smt Meera Jaiswai, learned counsel for respondeni No.3 U.nited India insurance Company Limlted on the other hand supported the award and contended that the compensation of Rs.2,95,000./- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and clrcumstances of the present case. 7) Shri Basant Dewangan, learned counsei for respondents No.1 and 2 aiso supported the award. : " 8) True; the claimants pleaded that deceased Sharad Shrivas used to e'arn Rs.8,000/- per month by running a Pan Shop, the eyidence led in that behalf was not ciinching 'nature. in fact, it has come in the evidence of the claimants themselves fhat the shop belongs tb {he father ofthe deceased and after his d'eath, his father is running the shop. !n thls state of evidence, we do not find any inflrmity in the assessment of the income of the deceased by the Tribunal at Rs.2,250/- oer month and Rs.27,000/- per annum. 3) Ths deduction of 1/3ro of the income of ths dsceased towards his personai expenses considering the number of ths dependents on hls income, certainiy requires reconsideratson. 'w 10) Considerina the number of the claimants and the aae of the deceased and the age ofthe ciaimants, v/e are ofthe opinion that it would be appropriate to deduct iess thsn 1/3 of the income of the deceasea towards nis personal expenses. in our considerec opinion, a sum of Rs.7,000/- per annum wouid be appropriate to be deducted towards the personal expenses of the deceased. Th.e ciaimants' dependency, therefore, is assessed o-t Rs.20, ;r n H Eun^. < -,\ 1) Considering that deceased Sharad Shrivas was shown to be 40 years of age in his postmortem report and his widow AVV/1 Smt Savlta Shrivas also stated his age to be about 40 years on the date of the accident, we are of t'ne opinion that multiplier of 15 wouid be appropriate in the present case in vievi/ of the recent dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla V< reported in (2009) 6 Supreme Court Cases 121, v»'hereinmuitipiier of 15 ha's been prescribed for t'ne aae aroup betvveen 36-40 years. 12) By muitiplying the annual dependency of Rs.20,000/- with the multiplier of 15, the .compensation works out to Rs.3,00,000/-. The ciaimants are further entitied to receive Rs.5,000/- towards funera! expenses; Rs.5,000/'- for ioss of estate: and Rs.5,000./- for loss of consortium to the. •wido'A'. The claimants, thus, become entitled to receive a total sum of Rs.3,15.000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Sharad Shrlvas in the motor accident 13) The clalmants are further awarded a sum of Rs.2,000/- tovu'ards auantified amount of interest on the enhanced amount of comDensation of Rs.20,000/-. 14) For ihe foregoing • reasons, the appeal fiied by the appeilants/claimants for enhancement of the compensation is llowed in part. The compensation of Rs.2,95,000/- awarded bythi Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.3,15,000/'- wit'n further quantified amount of interest of Rs.2,000/- on the enhanced amount of compensation Rs,20.000/-. 15) Respondent No.3 the United !odia Insurance Company Limited is aranted three months' time for depositing t.he totai sum of Rs.22,000/- (Rs.20,000/- to'A'ards enhanced arnount of compensation + Rs.2,000/- tovi'ards quantified amount of interest on the enhanced. amount of compensation of Rs.20,000/-) before the concernina Claims Tribunai. IS^ N. orderas to costs. -*>^^1^-^ Sd/- Cbief Justice Sd/- R.N.Chandrakar Judge 3^cms