Case: Amrit Bhanu Shali  Vs. National Insurance Co. Ltd.

the general practice is to apply standardised deductions. Having considered several subsequent decisions of this Court, we are of the view that where the deceased was married, the deduction towards personal and living expenses of the deceased, should be one-third (1/3rd) where the number of dependent family members is 2 to 3, one-fourth (1/4th) where the number of dependent family members is 4 to 6, and one-fifth (1/5th) where the number of dependent family members exceeds six. 31.Where the deceased was a bachelor and the claimants are the parents, the deduction follows a different principle. In regard to bachelors, normally, 50% is deducted as personal and living expenses, because it is assumed that a bachelor would tend to spend more on himself. Even otherwise, there is also the possibility of his getting married in a short time, in which event the contribution to the parent(s) and siblings is likely to be cut drastically. Further, subject to evidence to the contrary, the father is likely to have his own income and will not be considered as a dependant and the mother alone will be considered as a dependant. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, brothers and sisters will not be considered as dependants, because they will either be independent and earning, or married, or be dependent on the father. 32.Thus even if the deceased is survived by parents and siblings, only the mother would be considered to be a dependant, and 50% would be treated as the personal and living expenses of the bachelor and 50% as the contribution to the family. However, where the family of the bachelor is large and dependent on the income of the deceased, as in a case where he has a widowed mother and large number of younger non-earning sisters or brothers, his personal and living expenses may be restricted to one-third and contribution to the family will be taken as two-third.” (ii)Re Question - Selection of multiplier 42. We therefore hold that the multiplier to be used should be as mentioned in Column (4) of the table above (prepared by applying Susamma Thomas, Trilok Chandra and Charlie), which starts with an operative multiplier of 18 (for the age groups of 15 to 20 and 21 to 25 years), reduced by one unit for every five years, that is M- 17 for 26 to 30 years, M-16 for 31 to 35 years, M-15 for 36 to 40 years, M-14 for 41 to 45 years, and M-13 for 46 to 50 years, then reduced by two units for every five years, that is, M-11 for 51 to 55 years, M-9 for 56 to 60 years, M-7 for 61 to 65 years and M-5 for 66 to 70 years.” 16. Admittedly both the parents, Ist appellant- Amrit Bhanu Shali (father) and 2nd appellant- Smt. Sarlaben (mother) have been held to be dependents of deceased- Ritesh Bhanu Shali and, therefore, the Tribunal held that the Ist appellant and 2nd appellant have the right to get the compensation. On the date of the accident the 3rd appellant- Mamta was not married but by the time the case was heard by the Tribunal the 3rd appellant-Mamta had already been married. In these circumstances, she is not found to be dependent upon the deceased. Thus, both the parents being dependents, i.e., father and the mother, the Tribunal rightly restricted the ‘personal and living expenses’ of the deceased to 50% and contribution to the family was required to be taken as 50% as per the decision of this Court in the case of Sarla Verma (supra). 17. The selection of multiplier is based on the age of the deceased and not on the basis of the age of dependent. There may be a number of dependents of the deceased whose age may be different and, therefore, the age of dependents has no nexus with the computation of compensation. 18. In the case of Sarla Verma (supra) this Court held that the multiplier to be used should be as mentioned in Column (4) of the table of the said judgment which starts with an operative multiplier of 18. As the age of the deceased at the time of the death was 26 years, the multiplier of 17 ought to have been applied. The Tribunal taking into consideration the age of the deceased rightly applied the multiplier of 17 but the High Court committed a serious error by not giving the benefit of multiplier of 17 and brining it down to the multiplier of 13. 19. The appellants produced Income Tax Returns of deceased-Ritesh Bhanu Shali for the years 2002 to 2008 which have been marked as Ext.P-10-C. The Income Tax Return for the year 2007-2008 filed on 12.03.2008 at Raipur, four months prior to the accident, shows the income of Rs.99,000/- per annum. The Tribunal has rightly taken into consideration the aforesaid income of Rs.99,000/- for computing the compensation. If the 50% of the income of Rs.99,000/- is deducted towards ‘personal and living expenses’ of the deceased the contribution to the family will be 50%, i.e., Rs.49,500/- per annum. At the time of the accident, the deceased-Ritesh Bhanu Shali was 26 years old, hence on the basis of decision in Sarla Verma (supra) applying the multiplier of 17, the amount will come to Rs.49,500/- x 17 =Rs.8,41,500/-. Besides this amount the claimants are entitled to get Rs.50,000/- each towards the affection of the son, i.e., Rs.1,00,000/- and Rs.10,000/- on account of funeral and ritual expenses and Rs.2,500/- on account of loss of sight as awarded by the Tribunal. Therefore, the total amount comes to Rs.9,54,000/- (Rs.8,41,500/- + Rs.1,00,000/- + Rs.10,000/- + Rs.2,500/-) and the claimants are entitled to get the said amount of compensation instead of the amount awarded by the Tribunal and the High Court. They would also be entitled to get interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the filing of the claim petition leaving rest of the conditions mentioned in the award intact.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]17. The selection of multiplier is based on the age of the deceased and not on the basis of the age of dependent. There may be a number of dependents of the deceased whose age may be different and, therefore, the age of dependents has no nexus with the computation of compensation.The appellants produced Income Tax Returns of deceased-Ritesh Bhanu Shali for the years 2002 to 2008 which have been marked as Ext.P-10-C. The Income Tax Return for the year 2007-2008 filed on 12.03.2008 at Raipur, four months prior to the accident, shows the income of Rs.99,000/- per annum. The Tribunal has rightly taken into consideration the aforesaid income of Rs.99,000/- for computing the compensation. If the 50% of the income of Rs.99,000/- is deducted towards ‘personal and livingof the deceased the contribution to the family will be 50%, i.e., Rs.49,500/- per annum. At the time of the accident, the deceased-Ritesh Bhanu Shali was 26 years old, hence on the basis of decision in Sarla Verma (supra) applying the multiplier of 17, the amount will come to Rs.49,500/- x 17 =Rs.8,41,500/-. Besides this amount the claimants are entitled to get Rs.50,000/- each towards the affection of the son, i.e., Rs.1,00,000/- and Rs.10,000/- on account of funeral and ritual expenses and Rs.2,500/- on account of loss of sight as awarded by the Tribunal. Therefore, the total amount comes to Rs.9,54,000/- (Rs.8,41,500/- + Rs.1,00,000/- + Rs.10,000/- + Rs.2,500/-) and the claimants are entitled to get the said amount of compensation instead of the amount awarded by the Tribunal and the High Court. They would also be entitled to get interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the filing of the claim petition leaving rest of the conditions mentioned in the award intact.The selection of multiplier is based on the age of the deceased and not on the basis of the age of dependent. There may be a number of dependents of the deceased whose age may be different and, therefore, the age of dependents has no nexus with the computation of compensation.The appellants produced Income Tax Returns of deceased-Ritesh Bhanu Shali for the years 2002 to 2008 which have been marked as Ext.P-10-C. The Income Tax Return for the year 2007-2008 filed on 12.03.2008 at Raipur, four months prior to the accident, shows the income of Rs.99,000/- per annum. The Tribunal has rightly taken into consideration the aforesaid income of Rs.99,000/- for computing the compensation. If the 50% of the income of Rs.99,000/- is deducted towards ‘personal and livingof the deceased the contribution to the family will be 50%, i.e., Rs.49,500/- per annum. At the time of the accident, the deceased-Ritesh Bhanu Shali was 26 years old, hence on the basis of decision in Sarla Verma (supra) applying the multiplier of 17, the amount will come to Rs.49,500/- x 17 =Rs.8,41,500/-. Besides this amount the claimants are entitled to get Rs.50,000/- each towards the affection of the son, i.e., Rs.1,00,000/- and Rs.10,000/- on account of funeral and ritual expenses and Rs.2,500/- on account of loss of sight as awarded by the Tribunal. Therefore, the total amount comes to Rs.9,54,000/- (Rs.8,41,500/- + Rs.1,00,000/- + Rs.10,000/- + Rs.2,500/-) and the claimants are entitled to get the said amount of compensation instead of the amount awarded by the Tribunal and the High Court. They would also be entitled to get interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the filing of the claim petition leaving rest of the conditions mentioned in the award intact.