Court No. - 32 Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 1247 of 2015 Appellant :- Smt. Kesh Kanti And 4 Others Respondent :- Rajveer Singh And 3 Others Counsel for Appellant :- Devendra Kumar Yadav Counsel for Respondent :- Avdhesh Chandra Nigam
Hon'ble Arvind Kumar Tripathi,J. Hon'ble Shailendra Kumar Agrawal,J.
Heard learned counsel for the appellants, learned counsel for the respondent-Insurance Company and perused the record.
The instant First Appeal From Order has been preferred challenging the award dated 28.02.2015 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/ District Judge, Firozabad in M.A.C. No.60 of 2010 (Smt. Kesh Kanti and others Vs. Rajveer Singh and others).
Counsel for the appellants/ claimants submitted that accident took place on 15.02.2010 at about 7.30 PM when the deceased Vinod Kumar and Chandra Prakash were returning to their village on motorcycle, then the driver of Mahindra DI 575, Engine No.6164, of which there was no registration number, rashly and negligently hit the motorcycle, due to which Vinod Kumar died on the spot. The deceased was driver and earning Rs.8000/- per month, but the same was disbelieved by the Tribunal and the compensation was calculated by the Tribunal on the basis of notional income of only Rs.3000/- per month. The compensation should have been decided considering the notional income of skilled labourer because the deceased was driver. He has further submitted that in view of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Pranay Sethi and others, Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.25590 of 2014, the compensation should have been awarded considering the future prospect and even the compensation awarded in other conventional heads is not adequate and sufficient. Hence the impugned award is liable to be ehnanced.
Learned counsel for the respondent-Insurance Company vehemently opposed the prayer and submitted that though the claimants' case is that the deceased was driver, but neither any driving licence nor any evidence regarding alleged income was produced, hence the compensation has rightly been calculated on the basis of notional income. He further submitted that since the accident is of the year 2010 and as such, there is no illegality or irregularity in the award passed by the Tribunal. Therefore, the first appeal from order being devoid of merit is liable to be dismissed.
Considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties. Since no proof regarding income of the deceased was produced by the claimants/ appellants and even there is no driving licence of the deceased to show that he was working as driver, hence the compensation awarded on the basis of notional income is correct and there is no illegality. Since the deceased was in the age group of 31 to 35 years, hence as held by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt) and others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another, (2009) 6 SCC 121, the multiplier 16 has rightly been applied by the Tribunal. As far as the compensation in other conventional heads and towards future prospect is concerned, in view of the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Pranay Sethi and others, Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.25590 of 2014, the same is liable to be enhanced. Since the deceased was below the age of 40 years, hence as per Pranay Sethi's case the compensation towards future prospect would be 40% of the established income, the compensation towards loss of estate, funeral expenses and loss of consortium would be Rs.15,000/-, Rs.15,000/- and Rs.40,000/- respectively.
Accordingly taking in view the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the cases of Sarla Verma (Smt.) (supra) and Pranay Sethi and others (supra), the claimants/ appellants would be entitled to compensation as computed below:-
Sl. HEADS CALCULATION
Since the Tribunal has fixed the liability of accident upon the deceased as 40%, hence the claimants/ appellants would be entitled for 60% of the total compensation amount i.e. Rs.6,07,600/- X 60%= Rs.3,64,560/-.
Accordingly, the claimants/ appellants would be entitled for a total compensation of Rs.3,64,560/- in view of the ratio and interest as directed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal vide award dated 28.02.2015.
Accordingly, the present appeal is partly allowed.
Order Date :- 23.2.2018 Anoop