\ , J (/1 IIN Tm HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BILASPUR (CG) MISC.AP1=_EAL No; ‘?/?’ 0? 2004 wish” Bunch Memorandum of: Mis‘c.,Appea1 U/s 173 o£ M.v. Act ) ‘ PELLANTs a /‘1.; Aj ay Kumar s/o Late Chhabi Lal C:LA;MANTS sahu, aged 13 years. Ku.Bhuneshwari @ Dileshwari D/c Lgte Chhabi Lal, aged 11 yeaxs, Rajim Bai wa/o Late chabi Lal Sahu‘ aged 58 years. 51.No8i' 1 and 2 minors,thzough their natural guardian mother smtc? Rajim Bai Wd/o Late Chhabi Lal Sahu’t All resident o£ Village G01 Kumharha Tensil charamamistt Kanker (CG)”.*‘ At present r/o Gokulpur Dhamtari District Dhamtari (CG). Ve rS‘lS ~ {khan $ingh’s/o Madan singh J Rajput, resident of Mandaripara Kanker‘, District Kanksr (CG).i wwgg‘ua ’U w r\“U« hwf§€v$0k V a. c'hhokhe Lal S/o Jagnuram sahu, .aged 30 years. resident o£ Dasyur anker, District Kanker (CG). 2 < { , :‘ ‘ The Oriental insurance Co.Ltd ‘3 Through its Manager ,Adarsh Bal Mandir‘ Ke Pass.Dhamtari (CG). Dukhdram s/o Late Kishal Ram Sahu,aged 50 years. , Basanté Bai kid/0 Dukhuram Sahu. , aged 50, ye are; ( sl‘mow and 5 resident of village Golkumharha Tehsil _ Charama, District Kanker (CG) w / : , MEWRANDUM OF MISC.APPEAL UNDER SECTION 173 OF MOTOR WmCLE l 41L. E i }ACT l l REspoNDENwg APPLICAN'IS Ncv¢4e5 K : L ’_; 1 HIGH, COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR IVISION BENCH i ¢ORAM: ‘ ‘ HON’BLE HON’BLE SHRI SHR! RAJEEV'GMETA, RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, C.J. J Misc. Aggeal No. 717 of 2004 Ajay Kumar S/o Late Chhabi Lal Sahu, Ku. Bhuneshwari @ Dileshwari Dlo Late Chhabi Lal, aged 11 years. aged 13 years. Rajim Bai, Wd/o Late Chhabi Lal Sahu, I aged 58 years. ‘ SLNo. 1 and 2 minors, throUgh their natura1 guardian mother Smt. Rajim Bai Wdlo Late Chhabi Lal Sahu All resident of Village Gol Kumharha Tehsii Charama, Distt‘Kanker (CG). At present r10 Gbkuipur Dhamtari District Dhamtari (CG) LEB§LJ§ ‘ Deleted Anneitants Ciaimants " 2'. Resgondents Nen—agglicants 2 Chhokhe Lal S/o Jagnuram Sahu, aged 3O years, resident of Daspur Kanker, District Kanker (CG) The Oriental insurance Co. Ltd Through its Manager, Adarsh‘ Bal Mandir Ke Pass, ‘Dhamtari (CG) 4 Dukhuram Slo Late Kishal Ram Sahu, aged 50 years. ’5 Basanta Bal Wd/o Dukhuram Sahu, (Si. Nd. 4 and 5 resident of Village Golkumharha Tehsil Charama, district Kanker (CG) M A { e tion t iseellaneous I al under Sec 173 df Motor Vehicle Ac aged 50 years. l l l i r l l 1 l r Present ‘ : $hri$anieev Shri. R.N. Jha, Banjare,counselforthe'appeliants. counsel for respondent No.2 \ Shri Raj Awasthi, counsel for respondent No.3. \’ I . I. ‘ .L/ L...‘-.VL_V;1&1>. ‘ ~L ORDER (10m December, 2010) 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 Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Dhamtari (for short ‘the Tribunai’) vide award dated ¢ w " , 21 .082002, passed in Claim Case No.31/2002‘ E 2); As against the compensation of 1'2,50,000/- claimed by the a ‘ \ appellants and respondents No4 and 5/claimants unfortunate i i Widow minor children and parents of deceased Chhabi Lal Sahu by filing avclaim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act for his death in the motor accident on 28 01 2001 the Tribunal i awarded a total sum of Rs 1 66 GOOI- as compensation along With ‘ f interest @ 75% per annum from the date of tiling of the claim petition till the date of actual payment i 3) The Tribunal on a close scrutiny of the entire eVidence led before it held that deceased Chhabi Lal Sahu died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 28.01.2001; a, the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Jeep bearing registration No.MBY—220; as the above offending vehicle Jeeo on the date of the accident was vx‘ l i i i i insured With the Oriental Insurance Company Limited the l insurance Company was liable to pay compensation of the claimants. erawaw .v 4i As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the above findings recorded by the Tribunal have now attained finality. f5) The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at iRsJ ,800l- per inonth. By deducting Rs.500l- towards the personal the ciaimants’ dependency was expenses of the deceased‘ assessed at Rs.1 ,300/-per month and Rs.15,600l- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.15,600/- with the multiplier of 1‘0, the compensation was worked out to Rs.1 ,56,000/—. By awarding‘further sum of Tribunal awarded a total sum Rs.10,000I- under other heads, the of Rs.1 ,66,000I- as compensation to the claimants for the death of deceased Chhabi Lal Sahu in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.1,66,000/- @ 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition tiil the date of actual payment. learned counsel for the appellants 6) Shri Sanjeev Banjare, submitted that the Tribunal has erred in “selecting the lower multiplier of 10', and in awardi only. Limited, on the other hand supported Oriental insurance Company ng low compensation of Rs.1 ,66,000l- the award and contended that the compensation of Rs.1 £6,000]- iust and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. awarded by the Tribunal is V’\ 7) Shri Ra} Awasthi; learned counsel for respondent No.3 the t 8) Shn R N Jha learhed counsel for fesnondent No.2 Chhokhe Lal owner of the offending vehlcle Jeep also supported the award. Q) In a motor accrdent claim casewhat ls rmportant ls that the comoensatlon to be awarded by the Courts I Tribunals should be Just and proper compensation In the facts and crrcumstances of the case. It should neither be a meager amount of compensation, nor . {bonanza ‘10) Now, we shau examine as to whether the compensation of Rs.i,66,000/- .‘awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 11) As the claimants themselves pleaded that deceased Chhabi Lal Sahu used to earn Rs.1,800l- per month by working as Home Guard and the Tribunal‘ assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.1 ,8001- per month, the claimants cannot have any legitimate grievance about the assessment of the income of the deceased by the Tribunal. 12) The Tribunal has been quite liberal in deducting less than 1/3“ of the income of the deceased tovVards his personal é eXPenSeS. 13) The multiplier of 10 selected by the Tribunal is certainiy on the lower side and requires reconsideration. Considering that deceased Chhabi LakSahu was aged about 30 years as shown in his postmortem report; we are of the opinion that multiplier of 16 would be appropriate in the present case. 14) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.15,600l— with the multiplier of 16., the compensation works out to Rs.2,49.6OOI-. The \ claimants are further entitled to receive Rs.5,000l- towards funeral expenses; Rs.5,000l— for ioss of consortium to the wiqow and Rs.5,000l- for loss of estate. The olaimants, thus, become entitled I t‘o receive a totai sum of Rs.2,64,600/— as compensation 'for the dieath of deceased Chhabi Lai Sahu in the motor accident. i5) Learned counsel for the parties submitted that with a View to avoid any possible dispute between the parties about the period for a a 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 appeai itself. 16) Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter including the deiay in disposal of the claim petition and the present appeal, and the fact that the insurance Company alone is not to be blamed for the entire delay in the matter, we quantify the amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.98,600!- at Rs.6,4OOI-. 17) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants/ claimants for enhancement of the compensation ts allowed in part. The compensation of Rs.1,66,000/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.2,64,600/- with, further quantified amount of interest of Rs.6,400/— on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.98,600/-. 18) Respondent No.3 the Oriental insurance Company Limited is granted three months’ time for depositing the total sum of Rs.1,05,000/- (Rs.98,600/— towards enhanced amount of compensationjiRsCAOOI- towards quantified amount of interest Rx \ on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.98;6OOI—) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 19) The entire above amount of Rs.1 ,05,000/- shall be payabie to the appeHants, unfodunate widow and children of deceased Chhabi i Lai Sahu. Respondents No.4 Dukhuram and No.5 Basanta Bai, parents of the deceased shall not be entitled to get any share from this amount. at - 20) No order as to costs. Sdl- Chief Justice: ‘ A;V