g^£-6^^^i4^ @ ^ c^ • >r ' IN THE HON'BLE HIGHCOURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MISC. APPEAL (C) N0. s^^ / 2009 ! % APPELLANT : INSURER / RESPONDENT N0. 3 / y ^-^'. . ^\^^ ^^. Q^-"" ....^^ ^' ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd., ICICI Towers, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East) Mumbai, Through it's Legal Manager, 3rd Floor, Lal Ganga Shopping Complex, G.E. Road, Raipur, Chhattisgarh VERSUS RESPONDENTS . CLAIMANTS !t' ^1. Ram Jatan Sidar, son of Shri Masat Ram, aged about 40 years, 2, Smt. Aasho Bai, wife of Ram Jatan ^ Sidar, aged about 38 years Both residents of Salka, Post Kumrata, Muhalla Navapara, Thana Kapu, Tehsil Dharmajaygarh, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh RESPONDENT N0. 1 ^' ^ ^€?>?0/^£>^7 ^o. 2. " Mohd.Noore Haq, son of Shri Abdul Haq, age not known to the appellant, resident of vitlage Kharsiya Naka, Ambikapur, Tehsil Ambikapur, District Surguja, Chhattisgarh [VEHICLEOWNER] Ramjan Ali, son of Shri Mumtaj Ali, Age not known to the appellant, resident of Lakhanpur, District Surguja, Chhattisgarh [ DRIVER ] Kamal Singh Sidar, son of Shri Ram Jatan Sidar, age not known to the appellant, resident of Salka, Post Kumrata, Muhalla Navapara, Thana Kapu, Tehsil Dharmajaygarh, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh MEMORANDUM OF APPEAL UNDER SECTION 173 OF THE MOTOR VEHICLESACT1988 ^^E,5P0^^^7 A&- ^/ 5.v 'M^^ /Wi /'/^ HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR APPELLANT RESPONDENTS M.A.(C)No. 758 of 2009 ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd. Versus Ram Jatan Sjdar & Others APPEAL UNDER SECTION 173 OF THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT DB: Hon'ble Shri Justice I.M. Quddusi & Hon'ble Shri Justice N. K. Agarwal. Present : Shri Amrito Das, Advocate for the appetlant. Shri Amit Sharma, Advocate for respondent No.1&2. Shri Subhash Yadav, Advocate for respondent No. 3. ORAL ORDER (Passed on 16.12.2010) Per: I.M. Quddusi, J. 1. The instant appeal has been preferred by the appellant/insurance company against the award dated 09.01.2009, passed by the (Vth Addrtional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (FTC), Raigarh (for short 'the Tribunal') in claim case No. 29/08, awarding Rs. 3,77,000/- as compensation in favour of the ctaimants and as against the appellant/insurance company. 2. Brief facts of the case according to the appellant are that, on 09.04.2008, Samal Singh (since deceased) while traveling in Bus bearing registration No. CG-15-A-4241 fell down from the said Bus, as a result of which he succumbed to the injuries sustained in the said accident. ^^/ ^.. v^€/ --^ss^^' As against Rs. 13,25,000/- claimed by the parents of the deceased, the Tribunal, awarded total sum of Rs. 3,77,0001- as compensation in favour of the claimants along with interest 7.5 percent per annum from the date of application till its payment, holding the appellant responsible for its payment to the claimants. Shri Amrido Das, tearned counsel appearing for the appellant/insurance company would submit that the Tribunal has erred in not fastening the liability upon the respondent No. 3 & 4 who are owner and driver of the offending vehicle, therefore, the insurance company alone is not liable for payment of compensation to the claimants. It 1s further submitted by Shri Das that the amount of compensation awarded by the Tribunal is shocking on higher side which deserves to be suitably reduced. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the respondents supported the award and would submit that in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Tribuna! has rightly passed the award which deserves to be upheld. We have heard the counsel appearing for the parties, perused the order impugned and records of court below. The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at Rs. 3000/- per month i.e. Rs. 36,0007- per annum; deducted 1/3rd of it (i.e. Rs. 12.000/-) towards personal expenses of the deceased; applied multiplier of 15, assessed the amount of compensation towards loss of dependency at Rs. 3,60,000/- o^ /s^ ^ i^'..., T^ 't:^-^., ...^' ..M/ ^"" iilr<- (24,000/- X 15 = 3,60,000/-) and further awarded Rs. 2,000/-for funeral expense, Rs. 10,000/- for loss of love & affection and Rs. 5000/- for loss of estate and thus awarded total sum of Rs. 3,77,000/-(3,60,000/-+17,000/~) in favour ofthe daimants. 8. The claimants are parents and average age of which (40 & 38) comes to 39 years, thus, in view of Sarla Verma's case the standard deduction towards personal expenses of the deceased would be 50 percent and not 1/3rd as deducted by the Tribunal. Therefore, we propose to re-compute the amount ofcompensation. 9. After deducting 50 percent towards personal expenses of the deceased, the yearly loss of dependency would be Rs. 18,000/- per annum; multiplier of 15 has rightly been applied by the Tribunal and annual income of the deceased has been assessed at Rs. 36,000/- per annum. Thus, after making 50 percent deduction towards personal expenses of the deceased, the same comes to Rs. 18000/- and after applying multiplier of 15 the total loss of dependency comes to Rs. 2,70,000/-. By adding further amount of Rs. 35,000/- on other heads (Rs. 10,000/- for loss of estate, Rs. 10,000/- each for loss of love & affection and Rs. 5,000/- for funeral expenses), total award amount comes to Rs. 3,05,000/-. Thus, the claimants are entitled for Rs. 3,05,000/- as compensation in place of Rs. 3,77,0007- as awarded by the Tribunal. 10. In view of above, the appeal deserves to be and is hereby allowed in part. It is held that the claimants are entitled for Rs. 11. 4 3,05,000/- in place of Rs. 3,77,000/- as compensation payable by the appellant along with interest @ 7.5 percent per annum from the date of application till payment is made. The appellant/insurance company is granted three months time to deposit the amount of compensation before the concerned Tribunal. No order asto costs. "] Sahu Sd/- I.M.Quddusi Judge Sd/- N.K. Agrawal Judge