EE- HIGHCOURTOFCHHATTISGARHATBILASPUR DiVISiONBENCH CORAIVI: ^. HON'BLESHRIRAJEEVGUPTA,G.J.& HON'BLESHRIRANGNATHCHANDRAkAR,J. AB@eHants Appiicants Misc.ADDeaiNo. 1086 of 2004 1 Smt; Vimfa Sahu,widow of late Shri Ramla{Sahu,agedabout38years. 2 Banshi Sahu, s/o late Shri Ramlal Sahu, aged about 20 years. 3 Murli Sahu, s/p late Ramlal Sahu, aged about 18 years, 4 Minor Kumari Usha Sahu, d/o late Shri Ramlai Sahu, aged about 13 yeaFS through natural guardian mother Smt. Vimla Sahu, wife of late Shri RamlaiSahu. ; All R/o Psirsabha|a, - Balconagar, Korba, Tahsii and! district Korba, C.G.- '..• •'. •1: !;-,.:• :.,-:'1". ^ w ResDondents Non-applicgnts VERSUS Narayan Prasad, s/o Shri Tirath Ram Yadav, aged about 25 years, r/o villageLol<hundi,ciistt.Bilaspur,C.G. present address Belgarhi Nala, Balco Nagar, P.S. Balco, district Korba,C.G. (Driver) Uma Shankar Agrawal, s/p late Shri Navrangtal Agrawat, aged about 40 years, r/o Main Road Korba, Tahsil and district Korba, C.G. (Vehicle Owner) The National insurance Co. L.td. through Branch IVIanager, Branch, Office Korba, 13 Meenu Complex, Main Road, Kosabadi, Korba, Distt; Korba,C.G. (The tnsurance Company which insured the vehlcle no. QMIL 7181) :1^ .^. u j ;'^ MisceilaneousADDealu/S 173 oftheMotor VehicleAet. 1988 Present: Shri Vimlesh Bajpai,counsel for the appellants. None for respondents No. 1 & 2. Shri U.N.S. Deoand Shri H,S. Ahluwalia, counsel for respondent No.3. ORDER (11th November, 2010) The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. This is claimants' appeai for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Second Additional IVIotor Accident Claims Tribunal, Korba (for short, 'the Tribunal') vide awarcl dated 31.03.2003, passed in Claim Case No.24 of 2002. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.25,14,400/- claimed by the appellants/ ciaimanfs, ynfortunate mother, etder brbthers and younger sister of deceased IVIanoharlal Sahu, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the MotQr Vehicles Act, for his death in the motor accidenton 06.12.2000, the Tribunal awarded a -^•^-:...". .....•••::;- ••1,,. ..'/ total sum of Rs.85,000/- as compensation along with interest @ 9% 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 Manoharlal Sahu died on accountof the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on Q6-12-2000; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent :.^ ^ driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Dumper bearing registration No.MIL-7181; as the above offending vehicle Dumper on the date of the accident was insured with the National Insurance Company Limited and the InsuranGe Company coutd hot establjsh any fcSreach of the policy conditions, the Insurance Company was liable to pay^ompensation to the cJaimants. 4) As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the above findings recorded by the Tribunal have now attainedfinality. 5) The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.15,000/- per annum on the basis of the notional income prescribed in the Second Schedule under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act. By deducting 2/3rd ofRs.15,000/- towards the personal expenses of the d^eased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.5,000/- per annum. By multiplying the annuai dependency of Rs.5,000/- with the multiplier of 15, the compehsation was worked out to Rs.75,000/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.10,QOO/- ynder other heads.the Tribunal awardecfaBtal sum of Rs.85,000/- as compensation to the claimarits for the death of deceased Manoharlal Sahu in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount bf compensation of Rs.85,000/- @ 9% pec annum from the date of filing of the claim petition tilt the date of actual payment. - ^ 6) Shri Vimlesh Bajpai, learned counsel for the appellants placing reliance on the dictum ofthe Apex Court in the case of Shakti Devi Vs. New India Insurance Co. Ud & Anr. (Civil Appeal No. 3660 of 2006 decidedon 09-11-2010) submitted that the Tribunal has erred in awarding low compensation of Rs.85,000/-only. 7) Shri U.N.S. Deo and Shri 1-I.S.Ahluwalia, learned counsel for respondent No.3 the National Insurance Cpmpany Limited, on the other hand, supported the award and contended that as deceased Manoharlal Sahu was a boy aged about 15 yearsonly, the compensation 6f Rs.85,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circWhstances of the presentcase. 8) In a motor accident claim case, what is important 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 shalF'examine as to whether the compensation of Rs.85,000/- awarded by the Tribuna! is just and proper compensation in the fgcts and circumstances of the present case. 10) in the case of Shakti Devi (Supra), relied upon by leamed counsel for the appeitants, the Apex Court enhanced the amount of compensation from Rs.60,000/- to Rs.1,32,000/-. In the said case, the sole claimant was mother of the deceased. The .5 ^:.' .('" fe' deceasedwasagedabo,ut22yearsandhaddoneB.Com(Hons.) and was running a General Store. 11) Now reverting tp the present case, deceased Manoharlal Sahu was a boy agedabout 15-16 years. He was studying in 8th Standard; Though ths claimants pleaded that he used to earn Rs.150/-perdaybyselling eggsand peanuts,fhe evidenceled in that behalf was notof clinching nature. The claimants are mother, elder brothers and younger sister of deeeased Manoharla! Sahu. It is unfortunate that father of deceased Manoharlal Sahu diecf during the pendency of the claim petition. Mother of the deceased i.e. Smt. Vimla Sahu was aged about 38 years on the date of the accident. 12) Considering alt therelevant aspects of the matter inciuding the age of the deceased and his motherr the fact that m^?ier of the deceased is living with her two other sons; the fact that the deceased was a student of 8th Stanciard, weiareofthe opinion that further award of Rs.35,000/- inciusive of interest component on the enhanced amount of compensation would make the compensation of Rsf85,000/- awarded bythe Tribunal as just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the presentcase. 13) For the foregding reasons, the appeal filed by the appeltants/ claimants forenhancement of the compensation is aliowed in part. The claimants are awarded further sum of Rs.35,000/- inclusive of interest component on the enhanced ^ subbu 6 amount of compensation in addition to the sum of Rs.85,000/- awarded bytheTribunal. 14) Respondent No.3 the National Insurance Company Limitedisgrantedthreembnths'timefordepositingthetotalsum of Rs.35,000/- before the concernjng Claims Tribunal. 15) No order asto costs. Sd/- Chief Jusdce •S(V-'. \- T R.N. Chandrakar Judge .-..jy ;c, M .^^^....