Court No. - 33
Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 3289 of 2004 Appellant :- Smt. Prema Devi And Another Respondent :- Smt. Harpreet Kaur And Others Counsel for Appellant :- Ram Singh Counsel for Respondent :- S.K. Mehrotra,S K Mehrotra
Hon'ble Dr. Kaushal Jayendra Thaker,J.
1. Heard Shri Ram Singh learned counsel for the appellants, Shri S.K. Mehrotra, learned counsel for the respondent and perused the judgment and order impugned.
2. This appeal, at the behest of the claimants, challenges the judgment and award dated 27.08.2004 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/Additional District Judge, Fatehpur (hereinafter referred to as 'Tribunal') in M.A.C.P. No. 154 of 2003 awarding a sum of Rs.3,21,500/- with interest at the rate of 9%.
3. The accident is not in dispute. The deceased was 50 years of age survived by his widow and his mother. He was an agriculturist and was also doing business of selling kerosene oil. The accident occurred on 08.02.2003 whereby the vehicle in dispute caused death of the deceased. The claimants are the legal representative of the deceased.
4. The issue of negligence has been decided in favour of the appellant herein. The Insurance Company has not challenged the liability imposed on them by the Tribunal. The only issue to be decided in this appeal is the compensation awarded.
5. It is submitted by learned counsel for the appellant, that the Tribunal has considered the income of the deceased to be Rs.3,000/- per month which is on the lower side. It is submitted that the income of the deceased should have been considered to be at least Rs.4,500/- per month as he was an agriculturist and selling kerosene oil. He was 50 years of age at the time of accident. It is submitted that as there were two dependents of the deceased, the deduction under the head of personal expenses should be 1/3rd as decided by the tribunal. It is submitted that the Tribunal has not granted any amount towards future loss of income of the deceased which is required to be granted in view of the decision in National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Pranay Sethi and Others, 2017 0 Supreme (SC) 1050. It is further submitted that amount under non-pecuniary heads and the interest awarded by the Tribunal also requires to be enhanced.
6. It is submitted by learned counsel for the respondent that the income in the year 2003 i.e. the year of accident for a person whose income has not been proved, Rs.3,000/- per month cannot be said to be on the higher side. It is further submitted that the multiplier also does not require any enhancement as the deceased was 50 years of age. It is also submitted that there were two dependents and, therefore, hence, deduction towards personal expenses has rightly been considered by the Tribunal. It is further submitted that the tribunal has considered just compensation and hence nothing requires to be added.
7. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and perusing the judgment and order impugned, this Court finds that the income of the deceased Rs.4,000/-per month namely Rs.48,000/- per year has been rightly assessed by the Tribunal. To which, as the deceased was 50 years of age, 25% of the income requires to be added in view of the decision in Pranay Sethi (Supra) which would bring the figure to Rs.48,000 + Rs.12,000 = Rs.60,000/-. Out of which 1/3rd requires to be deducted as personal expenses of the deceased, hence after deduction of 1/3rd the amount would be Rs.40,000/-. As the deceased was in the age bracket of 51-60 years, the applicable multiplier would be 13 in view of the decision in Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation, (2009) 6 SCC 121. In addition to that, Rs.70,000/- is granted towards conventional heads as it is matter of 2004. Hence, the claimants are entitled to a total sum of Rs. (40,000 x 13) + 70,000 =5,90,000/-.
8. The rate of interest will have to be 9% in view of the judgment of the Division Bench of Lucknow Bench in F.A.F.O. No. 199 of 2017 (National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Lavkush and another) decided on 21.3.2017 which has been followed by this Court time and again and which will enure for the benefit of the appellants.
9. 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 the decision of the Tribunal 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.
10. This Court is thankful to both the counsels to see that the matter is disposed of.
Order Date :- 19.12.2019 A.N. Mishra