Court No. - 33
Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 228 of 2004
Appellant :- Smt. Girja Devi And Others
Respondent :- Sri Pratap Ghosh And Another
Counsel for Appellant :- P.K. Srivastava,Mohd. Naushad Siddiqui
Counsel for Respondent :- Mohan Srivastava
Hon'ble Dr. Kaushal Jayendra Thaker,J.
Heard Sri P.K. Srivastava, learned counsel for the appellants and Sri Mohan Srivastava, learned counsel for the respondents.
This appeal, at the behest of the claimants, challenges the judgment and award dated 18.11.2003 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/Additional District Judge, Court No.10, Kanpur Nagar (hereinafter referred to as 'Tribunal') in M.A.C.P. No. 372 of 2002 awarding a sum of Rs.2,25,000/- with interest at the rate of 7% per annum.
This is claimants appeal, whereby the tribunal has awarded a sum of Rs.2,25,000/- for the death of a person having his own business. It is submitted that the income of deceased was considered to be Rs.24,000/- per annum is bad in the eyes of law.
It is contended that the income should have been considered to be Rs.5,000/- per month and the amount should have been added with 25% of monthly income as future loss of income and instead of 1/3rd as there were six dependents out of which four were minor 1/4th should have been deducted and multiplier which has been applied of 13 may not be disturbed but the amount of Rs.17,000/- under non pecuniary damages requires to be enhanced to Rs.70,000/- in view of the judgment of National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Pranay Setthi and others, S.L.P. (Civil) No. 25590 of 2014, decided on 31.10.2017.
This is vehementally objected by Sri Mohan Srivastava, learned counsel for respondents and he has contended that in absence of any proof to the contrary the income which has been considered by the tribunal cannot be disturbed and he has submitted that on that amount this Court may grant 25% as future loss of income which has not been looked and it is submitted that 1/3rd should be deduction.
He has further submitted that accident is of the year 2002 and the rate of interest as per the Rule has been rightly granted and there is no question of enhancement of the said. The income in the year 2002 as per Lata Wadhwa v. State of Bihar AIR 2001 SC 3218 was considered to be Rs.3,000/-. The deceased was its own business had four minor children, one major daughter and widow, therefore, his income has to be considered to Rs.3,000/-, namely, Rs.36,000/- per year to which as the deceased was 46 years of age, 25% of the income requires to be added in view of the decision in Pranay Sethi (Supra) which would come to Rs.36,000 + 9,000 = 45,000/- out of which 1/4th requires to be deducted as personal expenses of the deceased and, hence, the annual datum figure available to the family is Rs.33,750/- rounded up to Rs.34,000/-. As the deceased was in the age bracket of 46-50 years, the applicable multiplier would be 13 in view of the decision of the Apex Court in Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation, (2009) 6 SCC 121. In addition to that Rs.70,000/- for non pecuniary loss will have to be granted is granted. Hence, the claimants are entitled to a total sum of Rs. 34,000 x 13 +70,000 = Rs.5,12,000/-
This takes this Court to the rival contention as far as interest is concerned, in view of the judgment of this High Court In Neeta Vs The Divisional Manager, MSRTC (2015) 3 SCC 590 where accident took place on 22.03.2011, Court allowed 9% rate of interest and held that interest awarded by Tribunal at 8% was erroneous. Para-11 of the judgment reads as under:-
"The appellants are also entitled to the interest on the compensation awarded by this Court in these appeals at the rate of 9% per annum along with the amount under the different heads as indicated above. The Courts below have erred in awarding the interest at the rate of 8 % per annum on the compensation awarded by them to the Appellants without following the decision of this Court in Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Vs. Uphaar Tragedy Victims Association and Ors. MANU/SC/1255/2011: (2011) 14SCC 481. Accordingly, we award the interest at the rate of 9% per annum on the compensation determined in these appeals from the date of filing of the application till the date of payment."
In Kanhsingh Vs. Tukaram, 2015 (1) SCALE 366 where accident had taken place on 02.07.2006 but tribunal awarded no interest. Court held that this is erroneous and 9 % interest should have been allowed in view of the principles laid down in Municipal Corporation of Delhi Vs Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (2011) 14 SCC 481.
In Kalpanaraj and Others Vs Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (2015) 2 SCC where accident took place on or before 1994, High Court had awarded interest at the rate of 9 % per annum which was challenged that it is on higher side. Court upheld said rate of interest.
In Shashikala and Others Vs Gangalakshmamma and Another (2015) 9 SCC 150, where accident had taken place on 14.12.2006, Court allowed 9 % rate of interest from the date of claim petition till the date of realization.
In Asha Verman and Ors Vs Maharaj Singh & Ors, 2015 (4) SCALE 329, High Court awarded interest at the rate of 8 % . Accident took place on 27.11.2016. It was held that 8 % interest is on lower side and it should be 9 %.
In Surit Gupta Vs United India Insurance Company (2015) 11 SCC 457, accident took place in July, 1990. Punjab and Haryana High Court had awarded interest at the rate of 6 %. Court held that it is on lower side and it should be 9 %.
In Chanderi Devi and another Vs Jaspal Singh and others (2015) 11 SCC 703, date of accident is September 2006 and the incumbent died on 04.10.2006. Court awarded 9 % interest.
In Jitendra Khimshankar Trivedi Vs Kasam Daud Kumbhar and Others (2015) 4 SCC 237, incident was on 21.09.1990. Tribunal awarded 15 % interest which was reduced to 12% by Gujrat High Court. Court held that it is on higher side and awarded 9 % interest following its decisions in Amresh Kumari Vs Niranjan Lal Jagdish Parshad Jain 2010 ACJ 551 (SC) and Mohinder Kaur Vs Hira Nand Sindhi (2007) ACJ 2123 (SC) and consisting stand of this High Court, the rate of interest would 9% from the date of filing claim petition till the decision of the tribunal and 6% thereafter. I am unable to accept the submission of Sri Mohan Srivastava, learned counsel for respondents that the rate of interest should be maintained.
In view of the above, the appeal is partly allowed. Judgment and decree passed by the Tribunal shall stand modified to the aforesaid extent. The amount be deposited with interest at the rate of 9% from the date of filing of the claim petition till award and 6% thereafter till the amount is deposited. The amount be deposited within a period of 12 weeks from today. The amount already deposited be deducted from the amount to be deposited.
This Court is thankful to both the counsels for getting very old matter disposed of.
Order Date :- 30.7.2019 Shubhankar