Surti Gupta vs United India Insurance Co. & Anr

On the night intervening 9/10.07.1990 at around 12:30 a.m., Parmod Bala, mother of the appellant, who along with five other passengers were travelling in a Maruti Car bearing registration No. PBW-8399, met with an accident near Oasis Tourist Complex on G. T. Road near Uchana village, Police Station Sadar Karnal, when a truck bearing registration No. PIB-5733 being driven rashly and negligently by respondent no. 2 coming from the opposite direction collided with the said car. Parmod Bala succumbed to the injuries caused to her due to the accident on the same day. An FIR No. 262 was registered on 10.7.1990 at the Police Station, Sadar Karnal under Sections 279/337/304-A of the I.P.C. against respondent no. 2 herein. The appellant being the only surviving legal representative, who was the adopted child of the deceased, filed a claim petition No.89 of 1990 before the M.A.C.T., Karnal seeking for compensation for the death of her deceased mother. The appellant at the time of the accident was 15 years of age and was wholly dependent on her mother. The Tribunal by its award dated 11.11.1991 dismissed the said claim petition filed by the appellant on the ground that she could not prove to be a legal representative of the deceased.

Aggrieved by the said award of the Tribunal, the appellant filed FAO No.1647 of 1992 before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh. The High Court allowed the appeal filed by the appellant and set aside the award of the Tribunal and awarded an amount of Rs.6,30,000/- to the appellant. The relevant portion of the judgment and award of the High Court is extracted hereunder to examine the break-up of figures and calculation made by the High Court before arriving at the above said compensation amount of Rs. Rs.6,30,000/- awarded under different heads payable to the appellant by the respondent-Insurance Company.

In the result, the appellant shall be entitled to compensation under the following heads:

Thus, the total enhanced compensation payable to the appellant by the respondent-Insurance Company will be Rs.10,98,600/- with interest at the rate of 9% p.a. from the date of filing of the application till the date of payment. The respondent-Insurance Company shall either pay by way of demand draft in favour of the appellant or deposit the same with interest as awarded, before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Karnal, after deducting the amount already paid to the appellant, if any, within six weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of this judgment.

The appeal is allowed as per the above said directions. No Costs.

J. [C. NAGAPPAN] New Delhi, March 17, 2015 ITEM NO.1A-For Judgment COURT NO.9 SECTION IVB S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Civil Appeal No(s)........./2015 arising from SLP(C) No.1868/2014 SURTI GUPTA Appellant(s) VERSUS UNITED INDIA INSURANCE CO. & ANR. Respondent(s) Date : 17/03/2015 This petition was called on for pronouncement of JUDGMENT today.

For Appellant(s) Mr. Abhay Kumar,Adv.

For Respondent(s) Ms. Manjeet Chawla,Adv.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice V.Gopala Gowda pronounced the judgment of the Bench comprising His Lordship and Hon'ble Mr. Justice C. Nagappan.

Delay condoned.

Leave granted.

The appeal is allowed in terms of the signed Non-Reportable Judgment.

(Signed Non-Reportable Judgment is placed on the file)