HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAIUI: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, C.J. & HON'BLE SHRI N.K. AGARWAL, J. Appellants Respondents Misc. Appeal (Ct No. 1035 of 2007 1. Mahavir Jain, s/o Shantilal Jain, aged about 40 years, 2. Smt. Sushila, w/o Mahavir Jain, aged about 35 years, Both r/o Narayanpur Tah. Kondagaon district Bastar. VERSUS 1. Purushottam Sahu, s/o Bahur Sahu aged about 42 years, r/o Bakharu Para Narayanpur district Bastar (Driver and motor owner) 2. Branch Manager National Insurance Company Limited Jagdalpur, district Bastar C.G. Memo of appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Present: Ms. Sonia Kuldeep, counsel for the appellants. Shri Dashrath Gupta, counsel for respondent No.2. ORDER (26th July, 2011) The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. The unfortunate parents of deceased boy Tarun Jain aged about 10-12 years are the appellants before us in this appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Kondagaon, Bastar (for short 'the o/ Tribunal') vide award dated 1 1.04.2007, passed in Claim Case No.21/2007. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.21,50,000/- claimed by the appellants/ claimants, unfortunate parents of deceased boy Tarun Jain aged about 10-12 years, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for his death in the motor accident on 16.05.2005, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.54,500/- as compensation along with interest @ 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 the National Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Truck bearing registration No.CG-07/ZC- 4060 liable to pay compensation to the claimants. 4) Asthe insurer of the offending vehicle Truck has not filed any appeal challenging the above finding recorded by the Tribunal, the same now has attained finality. 5) The Tribunal considering the age of the deceased and the claimants awarded Rs.54,500/- inclusive of Rs.2,000/- towards funeral expenses and Rs.2,500/- for loss of estate, as compensation to the claimants for the death of their son Tarun Jain in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.54,500/- @6%per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) Ms. Sonia Kuldeep, learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Tribunal has erred in awarding low compensation of Rs.54,500/- only though the appellants' son deceased Tarun Jain was a brilliant student and had a bright future and he would have extended great support to his parents in their old age. 7) Shri Dashrath Gupta, learned counsel for respondent No.2 the National Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Truck, on the other hand supported the award and contended that as deceased Tarun Jain was aged about 10-12 years, the compensation of Rs.54,500/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances ofthe present case. 8) In a motor accident claim case, what is impori:ant is that, the compensation to be awarded by the Courts/Tribunals should be just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the case. It should neither be a meager amount of compensation, nor a Bonanza. 9) Now we shall examine as to whether the compensation of Rs.54,500/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 10) Deceased boy Tarun Jain was aged about 10-12 years on the date of the accident. He was a student of 3 standard. The claimants are his parents. Claimant No.1 Mahavir Jain, father ofthe deceased was aged about 42 years on the date of the accident, whereas claimant No.2 Smt. Sushila was aged about 35 years. 11) The Apex Court while considering as to what would be the just and proper compensation for the death of a child aged about 7 years in the case of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs Syed Ibrahim and others, repori:ed in 2007 (4) TAC-385 (SC) observed in paras9& 10 : "9. This Court in Lata Wadhwa while computing compensation made distinction between the deceased children falling within the age group of 5 to 10 years and age group of 10 to 15 years. 10. In cases of young children of tender age, in view of uncertainties abound, neither their income at the time 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 early age, the uncertainties in regard to their academic pursuits, achievements in career and thereafter advancement in life are so many that nothing can be assumed with reasonable certainty. Therefore, neither is the income of the deceased child capable of assessment on estimated basis nor is the financial loss suffered by the parents capable of mathematical computation." The Apex Court in the case of Qriental Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs Syed Ibrahim and others (supra) held that the compensation of Rs.51,500/- was just and proper compensation for the death of a child aged about seven years. 12) The compensation of Rs.54,500/- awarded by the Tribunal when examined in the context of the above quoted dictum of the Q/ Apex Court in the case of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., (supra), in our opinion, is somewhat on the lower side and deserves to be enhanced to some extent. 13) Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter including the age of deceased boy Tarun Jain and his parents, we are of the opinion that further award of Rs.25,000/- inclusive of interest component on the enhanced amount of compensation would make the compensation of Rs.54,500/- awarded by the Tribunal as just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 14) The appeal filed by the appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation, therefore, is allowed in part. The claimants are awarded further sum of Rs.25,000/- inclusive of interest component on the enhanced amount of compensation in addition to the sum of Rs.54,500/- awarded by the Tribunal. 15) Respondent No.2 the National Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.25,000/- before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 16) No order as to costs^ Sd/- ChiefJustice A. nimmi Sd/- N.K. Agarwal Judge