? HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR Appellant Insurer Sinqle Bench : Hon ble Shri Dlllp Raosaheb Deshmukh J Mlscellaneous Appeal (C ) No 141/2006 The New India Assurance Lompany Limited Through DIVIsuonal Manager The New lndla Assurance Company Limited, Second Floor, Rama Trade Centre, Bus Stand Road, Bilaspur (C.G.) Versus , 1. Mohamad Hassan Khan, S/o Unknown, aged unknown, ,Mahadeo Transport Servfce‘s, Opposite Anand Hotel, Bus Stand Road, Biiaspur (C.G.) Shamsad Ali, S/o Mohamad Ali, aged about 35 years, R/o Babaganj, P.S. Mawakdal Ganj, District Pratapgarh (U.P.), presently R/o Mahadeo Bus Services, Champa, P.S. Champa, District Janjgir Champa (C.G,) 3. Ramesh Kumar Chandra S/o Shri Phiituram Chandra, Aged about 28 years. 4. Smt, Anusuiya Bai W/o Ramesh Kumar Chandra, Aged about 26 years. Both respondents No.3 & 4 are resident of Village Akaltara, Tehsil Sakti, District Janjgir Champa (C.G.) Presently at Hemunagar, Biiaspur. (C.G.) J Miscellaneous Appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Respondents Owner Driver Claimants lr/ Present: Shri Sourabh Sharma, counsel for the appellant/insurer. Respondents No 1 3 & 4 are absent, though served. ORAL ORDER (Passed on this 4‘? day of July, 2008) / The Appeal is heard finally today. (2) This is an appeal by the insurer against the award dated 02-08- 2006 passed by the lst Additional Motor Accidents Claim‘s Tribunal (henceforth the Tribunal") in Claim Case No.02/2006 whereby in a case f accidental death of girl child, aged 3 years on 29-12-1994, the Tribunal ‘” //‘s/’ U, “ I o ., W7 has awarded compensation of Rs.1,80‘000/-.{‘On the date of accident, the deceased was riding a cyclewith her grandfather and was crushed underneath the bus, insured by the appeiiant.: (3) Learned counsel for the appellant/insurer submitted that out of the total compensation of Rs.1,80,000/— awarded by the Tribunal, the appellant/insurer has already deposited compensation of Rs.1,50,000/—, and prayed that the compensation awarded by the Tribunal be modified to that extent. Reliance was placed on a decision rendered by Division Bench of this Court in (Bhagwat Yadav and another vs. Rajendra Kumar Sahu and another)in M.A.No.293/2001 on 27-03-2008, whereby in case of death of a male child, aged about 14 years, an appeal for enhancement of compensation of Rs.86,000/— awarded by the Tribunal, was dismissed while placing reliance on the dictum of the Apex Court in Oriental Insurance Company Limited ll. Syed Ibrahim and Others, reported in 2007 (4) T.A.C. 385 (S.C.). ‘ (4) Having heard learned counselfor the appellant, I have perused the record as also the decision rendered by the Apex Court in Oriental Insurance Company Limited ll. Syed Ibrahim and Others (Supra) wherein it was observed as under: kl I “There are some aspects of human life which are capable of monetary measurement, but the totality of human life is like the beauty of sunrise or the splendor of the stars, beyond the reach of monetary tape-measure. The determination of damages for loss of human life is an extremely difficult task and it becomes all the more baffling when the deceased Is a child and/or a non- earnlng person The future of a child Is uncertain Where- the deceased was a child he was earning nothing but\ had a prospect to earn The question of assessment of compensation, therefore, becomes stiffer. The figure of, compensation in such cases involves a good deal of‘» guesswork. ln cases, where parents are claimants, relevant factor would be age of parents. / In cases of young chlldren of tender age In View of uncettalntles abound neither their Income at the tlme of death nor the prospects of the future Increase In their Income nor chances of advancement of their career are capable of proper determination on estimated baSIs. The reason is that at such an eariy age, the unceltainties in regard to their academic pursuits, the achievements in career and thereafter advancement in life are so many that nothing can be assumed with reasonable certainty. Therefore, neither the income of the deceased child is capable of assessment on estimated basis nor the financial loss suffered by the parents is capable of mathematical computation. “ It also needs consideration that,although the Apex Court had, in Oriental Insurance Company Limited V. Syed Ibrahim and Others (Supra), upheld the award of compensation of Rs.51 ,500/- by the Tribunal in a case of accidental death of a child aged 7 years, the accident had occurred on 20-11-1994. l‘n the present case, the accident had occurred on 29-12-2004. Considering the ratio laid down by the Apex Court, the steep fall in the value of money over a decade i.e., from year 1994 to the date of accident in the present case, in my considered opinion, in the facts and circumstances of this case, the compensation of Rs.1,80,000/- awarded by the Tribunal cannot be said to be excessive. In such situation, a Division Bench of this Court has in Subelal Banjare and others vs. Mohd. Ajaz Khan @ Pintu and others, Miscellaneous Appeal No.365/2003 decided by a Division Bench of this Court on 11—02—2008 while placing reliance on Manju Devi and another vs. Musafir Paswan and another, 2005(1) TAC 609 (SC) held that the tribunal ought to have taken the notional yearly income of the deceased at Rs.15,000l- and‘ awarded compensation of Rs.2,25,000/-. In Manju Devi and another vs. Musafir Paswan and another (supra) also the Supreme Court ha§held ts; that compensation of Rs.2,25,000/— would be adequate compensation in a case of death of a boy aged 13 years since the notional yearly income of /‘ tit a l the deceased ought to be taken at Rs.15,000{- and multiplier of 15 ought i to be applied. (5) There is thus no merit in this appeal which is accordingly dismissed. l Sd/ i Dilip Raosaheb Deshmukh l i Judge