HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, C.J. & HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, J. Appellahts/ Claimants Misc. Appeal (Cl No.691 of 2008 1 Smt. Ramkumari Bai, Wd/o. Late Shyam Lal Banjare, aged about 30 years. 2 Vikrant Kumar, s/o. Late Shyam Lat Banjare, aged about 12 years. 3 Mukesh Kumar s/o. Late Shyam Lal Banjare, aged about 10 years. 4 Ku. Laxmi, d/o. Late Shyam Lal Banjare, aged about 4 years. 5 Ankit Kujmar, s/o. Late Shyam Lal Banjare, aged about 2 years. 6 Prashant, s/o. Late Sahdev Banjare, aged about 10years. 7 Smt. Jageshwari Bai, wd/o Late Sahdev Banjare, aged about 50 years. All r/o. village Hasada No.2, Thana Abhanpur, district Raipur (CG). Appellants No. 2 to 5 are minors represented by their natural guardian & mother appellant No.1 Smt. Ramkumari Bai and minor appellant No.6 represented by his natural guardian & mother appellant No.7 Smt. Jageshwari Bai. VERSUS Respondents Mahendra Kumar Sahu, s/o. Ramkhilawan Sahu, aged about 34 years (Driver), r/o. Sheetla Para, Nawapara, Rajim, District Raipur, y^y^ 1 •^. l:b^fc :2^ CG (Driver of the vehicle Baleno Maruti bearing Regd. No. CG.04/H- 6468). 2 Radha Krishna Rice Mill, Nawapara, Rajim, Proprietor Mohan Lal Agrawal, r/o. Nawapara, Sadar Bazar, Rajim, (CG) Thana Gobra, Nayapara, District Raipur (CG). (Registered owner of the vehicle Baleno Maruti bearing Regd.No. C.G.04/H-6468)/ 3 The New India Insurance Company Ltd., through Divisional Manager, the New India Insurance Company Limited, Division Office No.1, Kutchery Chowk, Raipur (CG). (insurer of the vehicle Baleno Maruti bearing Regd. No. C.G.04/H-6468). Appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicle Act. 1988 X Present: Shri Satyendra Sahu and Shri Suresh Tandon, counsel for the appellants. Shri Raj Awasthi and Shri J.A. Lohani.counsel for respondent No.3. ORDER (15th June, 2011) The following order of the Couri: 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, Raipur (for shori: 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 03.01-.2008, passed in Claim Case No.59/2007. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.8,12,000/- claimed by the appellants/ claimants, unfortunate widow, minor children and -'» ^^ fc^ mother of deceased Shyam Lal Banjare, by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for his death in the motor accident on 23.06.2007, the Tribunal awarded a sum of Rs.4,16,500/- 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 that deceased Shyam Lal Banjare died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 23.06.2007; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Baleno Car bearing registration No.CG-04H-6468; as the above offending vehicle Baleno Car on the date of the accident was insured with the New India Insurance Company Limited and the Insurance Company could not establish any breach of the 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 and Rs.36,000/- per annum. By deducting 1/3 of Rs.36,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.24,000/- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of ^ ] s% Rs.24,000/- with the multiplier of 16, the compensation was worked out to Rs.3,84,000/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.32,500/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.4,16,500/- as compensation to the daimants for the death of deceased Shyam Lal Banjare in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.4,16,500/- @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) Shri Satyendra Sahu and Shri Suresh Tandon, learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Tribunal has erred in deducting 1/3 of the income of the deceased towards his personal expenses; and in awarding low compensation of Rs.4,16,500/-only. 7) Shri Raj Awasthi and Shri JA Lohani, learned counsel for respondent No.3, the New India Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Baleno Car on the other hand, supported the award and contended that the compensation of Rs.4,16,500/- awarded by the Tribunal cannot be termed as inadequate so as to warrant enhancement in this appeal. 8) The claimants cannot have any legitimate grievance about the assessment of the income of the deceased by the Tribunal at Rs.3,000/- per month and Rs.36,000/- per annum as the claimants themselves pleaded in the claim petition that the deceased used to earn Rs.3,000/- per month only. \ '-"•'-'-.^•^ -—>.,v^ 9) The deduction of 1/3 of the income of the deceased by the Tribunal towards his personal expenses, in view of the fact that there were as many as seven ctaimants in the case and in view of the dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt) and Others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another, reported in (2009) 6 SCC 121, cannot be sustained. 10) In our opinion, only 1/4 of the income of the deceased ought to have been deducted towards the personal expenses of the deceased. We, therefore, assess the claimants' dependency at Rs.27,000/- per annum by deducting 1/4th of Rs.36,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased. 11) Considering that deceased Shyam Lal Banjare was aged about 37 years on the date of the accident in the year 2007as he was shown to be 35 years of age in his ration card which was produced before the Tribunal and was issued in the year 2005, the multiplier of 15 would be appropriate in the present case in view of the dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt) and Others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another (Supra) wherein multiplier of 15 has been prescribed for the age group between 36-40 years. 12) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.27,000/- with the multiplier of 15, ttie compensation works out to Rs.4,05,000/-. 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 widow. The tEi- '/'•-^ '\ claimants, thus, become entitled to receive a total sum of Rs.4,20,000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Shyam Lal Banjare in the motor accident. 13) The claimants are further awarded a sum of Rs.500/- towards quantified amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compen'sation of Rs.3,500/-. 14) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensation of Rs.4,16,500/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.4,20,000/- with further quantified amount of interest of Rs.500/- on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.3,500/-. 15) Respondent No.3 the New India Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.4,000/- (Rs.3,500/- towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.500/- towards quantified amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.3,500/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 16) No order as to costs. Sd/- Chief Justice R.N. Sd/- Judge subbu \