K^s Ss 4 HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, C.J. & HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, J. Appellants Claimants Misc. Appeal (C) No. 18 of 201 O 1. Chamman Lal s/o Hem Rai Sahu, aged 42 years, 1t~ 2. Shanker Lal s/o Chammanlal Sahu, aged 21 years, 3. Kamal Kumar s/o Chamman Lal Sahu, aged 20 years, 4. Ghanshyam s/o Chamman Lal, aged 18 years, late a minor through natural guardian & father Chamman Lal Sahu but now having attained majority, All are r/o Khadgaon, Charbhata, tahsil Dongergaon, district Rajnandgaon C.G. VERSUS 1. Doman Das s/o Vishal Das Sahu, agead 32 years (Driver) 2. Smt. Nirmala Jain, w/o Kanhaiya, Lal Jain, aged 40 years (Owner) Both are r/o Arjuni, P.S. Dongergaon, district Rajnandgaon C.G. 3. The United India Insurance Co. Ltd. throygh Branch Manager, Kamthee Line, Rajnandgaon, tahsil and district Rajnandgaon C.G. hflisc. Appeal under Section 173 ofthe MotorVehicle Act. Present: Shrt'V.K. Sharma, counsel for the appellants. Respondents Non-applicants _^ ^ Shri Aman Kesharwani, counset on behalf of Shri Abhishek Sharma, counsel for respondents No.1& 2. Shri Sanjay S. Agrawal, counsel for respondent No.3. ORDER (25thJuly,2011) The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the First Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Rajnandgaon (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 31.10.2009, passed in Claim Case No.163/2008. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.22,51,200/- claimed by the appellants/ claimants, unfortunate husband and sons of deceased Smt. Indrani Sahu, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 ofthe Motor Vehicles Act, for her death in the motor accident on 25.11.2008, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.2,73,500/- as compensation along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filingof the claim petition till the date of gctual payment. 3) The Tribunal on a close scrutiny of the entire evidence led before it held that deceasedSmt. Indrani Sahu died on account of *» the injuries sustained by her in the motor accident on 25.11.2008; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Swaraj Mazda bearing registration No.CG-OSZB/0471; as the above offending vehicle Swaraj l\/tazda on the date of the accident was insured _^ ~> with the United India Insurance Company Limited and the insurance company could not establish any breach ofthe policy conditions, the Insurance Company was liable to pay compensation to the claimants. 4) As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the above findings recorded by the Tribunal have now attained finality. 5) The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.3,000/- per month. By deducting 1/3rd of Rs.3,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.2,000/- per month and Rs.24,000/- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.24,000/- with the multiplier of 11, the compensation was worked out to Rs.2,64,000/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.9,500/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.2,73,500/- as compensation to the claimants for the death of deceased Smt. Indrani Sahu in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.2,73,500/- @ 6% per annum from the date 'of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) • Shri V.K. Sharma, learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Tribunal though has rightly assessed the income of the deceased and the claimants' dependency, has erred in selecting the lower multiplier of 11; and in awarding low compensation of Rs.2,73,500/- only. ^ 'V -) 2^ 7) Shri Sanjay S. Agrawal, learned counsel for respondent No.3, the United India Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Swaraj Mazda, on the other hand, contended that the compensation of Rs.2,73.500/- awarded fc>y the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 8) Shri Aman Kesharwani, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Shri Abhishek Sharma, learned counsel for respondent No.1 Doman Das and respondent No.2 Smt. Nirmala Jain, the driver and owner of the. offending vehicle Swaraj Mazda also supported the award. 9) Though, learned counsel for the appellants has not challenged the assessment of the income of the deceased and the claimants' dependency, even then we have examined the evidence available on record in that behalf and we are satisfied that the Tribunal has rightly assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.3,0007- per month and the daimants' dependency at Rs.2,000/- per month and Rs.24,000/- per annum. 10) Nevertheless, the multiplier of 11 selected by the Tribunal iscertainly on the lower side. 1,1)-Considering that deceased Smt. Indrani Sahu was aged about 40 years on the date of the accident and claimant No.1 Chamman Lal, husband of deceased Smt. Indrani Sahu was shown to be 42 years of age, we areof the opinion that multiplier of 14Would be appropriate in the present case in view of the dictum 6f the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt) and Others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another, reported in (2009) 6 SCC 121 which prescribes the multiplier of 14 for the age group between 41-45 years. 12) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.24,000/- with the multiplier of 14, the compensation works out to Rs.3,36,000/-. The claimants are further entitled to receive Rs.5,000/- towards funeral< expenses; Rs.5,000/- for loss of estate; and Rs.5,000/- for loss of consortium to the husband. The claimants, thus, become entitled to receive a total sum of Rs.3,51,000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Smt. Indrani Sahu in the motor accident. 13) Learned counsel for the parties submitted that with a view to avoid any possible dispute between the parties before the Tribunal about the period for which the claimants are entitled to receive interest on the enhanced amount of compensation, the amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation may be quantified in this appeal itself. 14) Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter, 'lncluding the delay in disposal of the claim petition, and the present appeal and the fact that the Insurance Company alone is not tp be blamed for the entire delay in the matter, we quantify the amount of interest on \he enhanced amount of compensation ofRs.77,500/-at Rs.7,500/-. 15) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensatio^ of Rs.2,73,500/- awarded by nimmi the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.3,51,000/- with further quantified amount of interest of Rs.7,500/- on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.77,500/-. 16) Respondent No.3 the United India Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.85,000/- (Rs.77,500/- towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.7,500/- towards quantified amount of interest on the enhanced amountof compensation of Rs.77,500/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 17) No order as to costs. Sd/- Chief Justice Sd/- R.N.Chandrakar Judge .,' .V .'fSWV"^'-