IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 25TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2017 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.SREENIVASE GOWDA MISCELLANEOUS FIRST APPEAL No.4268/2012 (MV) BETWEEN:
1. SMT.PUTTADEVAMMA W/O LATE MAHADEVAPPA AGE 33 YEARS 2. MANNUJA @ MANU S/O LATE MAHADEVAPPA AGE 12 YEAS 3. CHENTAN @ MANUSHREE D/O LATE MAHADEVAPPA AGE 10 YEARS APPELLANTS 2 & 3 ARE MINORS REP. BY THEIR NATURAL GUARDIAN MOTHER i.e., 1ST APPELLANT.
ALL ARE R/AT CHIRAKANAHALLY VILLAGE, TERAKANAMBI HOBLI, GUNDLUPET TALUK CHAMARAJANAGAR DISTRICT-571111. …APPELLANTS (BY SRI R.C.NAGARAJ, ADV.) AND:
1. BASAVARAJU S/O SIDDAIAH, 38 YEARS R/O YERAGANAHALLI VILLAGE HARADANAHALL HOBLI CHAMARAJANAGARA TALUK-571313 2. SHIVAIAH S/O NINGAIAH, 59 YEARS VADDAGERE VILLAGE GUNDLUPET TALUK CHAMARAJANAGARA DISTRICT-571111 3. THE UNITED INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY HUNSUR CLUB COMPLEX, HUNSUR-571105 REP. BY ITS BRANCH MANAGER …RESPONDENTS (BY SRI B.C.SEETHARAMA RAO, ADV. FOR R-3; NOTICE TO R-1 & R-2 IS DISPENSED WITH.) THIS APPEAL IS FILED UNDER SECTION 173(1) OF MV ACT AGAINST THE JUDGMENT & AWARD DATED 05.11.2011 PASSED IN MVC NO.356/2009 ON THE FILE OF THE DISTRICT JUDGE, MEMBER, MACT, CHAMARAJANAGAR, PARTLY ALLOWING THE CLAIM PETITION FOR COMPENSATION AND SEEKING ENHANCEMENT OF COMPENSATION.
THIS APPEAL COMING ON FOR ADMISSION THIS DAY, THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
J U D G M E N T With the consent of learned counsel appearing for the parties, appeal is heard, admitted and disposed of finally.
2. Perused the Judgment and Award passed by the Tribunal.
3. Claimants aggrieved by the quantum of compensation awarded by the Tribunal, have preferred this appeal seeking enhancement of compensation.
4. As there is no dispute regarding death of one Mahadevappa in a road traffic accident that occurred on 21.05.2009 due to rash and negligent driving of a tractor and trailer bearing registration No.KA-10-T-5205 and 5206 by its driver and liability of the insurer of the said vehicle, the only point that arises for consideration in the appeal is:
“Whether the quantum of compensation of Rs.4,15,000/- with interest at 6% per annum awarded by the Tribunal is just and reasonable or does it call for enhancement? ”
5. The claimants in support of their contention that deceased Mahadevappa by doing coolie was earning Rs.6,000/- per month, except examining first claimant – wife of the deceased as PW-1, have not substantiated their contention by adducing cogent evidence. In the absence of proof of income, considering the age of the deceased as 37 years, year of accident as 2009 and avocation as daily wager, his income can be taken as Rs.5,000/- per month as against Rs.3,000/- taken by the Tribunal. The claimants are wife and two minor children. Therefore, 1/3rd of the income of deceased is to be deducted towards his personal expenses and remaining 2/3rd of the income is to be taken as his contribution towards family. Multiplier applicable to the age group of the deceased is 15. So loss of dependency works out of Rs.5000 x 12 x 15 x 2/3 = 6,00,000/- it is awarded as against Rs.3,60,000/-.
6. The first claimant – wife of the deceased has lost her husband at the young age of 30 years and therefore Rs.1,00,000/- is awarded towards loss of consortium. Claimant Nos.2 and 3 had lost their father at the age of 9 and 7 respectively and lost their love and affection. Therefore, Rs.1,00,000/- is awarded towards their love and affection at the rate of 50% each. Towards transportation of dead body and funeral expenses, Rs.30,000/- is awarded.
7. Thus, the claimants are entitled for the following compensation:-
8. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed-in-part.
The Judgment and Award passed by the Tribunal is modified to the extent stated herein above. The claimants are entitled for an additional compensation of Rs.4,15,000/- with interest at 6% p.a. from the date of claim petition till the date of realisation.
9. The Insurance Company is directed to deposit the additional compensation amount together with interest within two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this Judgment.
10. From the additional compensation amount, Rs.1,00,000/- with proportion interest is ordered to be invested in fixed deposit in the name of each of the claimants in any Nationalised Bank/Scheduled Bank/Post Office for a period of 5 years with a right of option to withdraw interest periodically. The remaining balance amount with proportion interest shall be released in favour of first claimant.
11. The Tribunal while releasing the remaining amount of Rs.1,15,000/- with proportion interest in favour of claimant No.1, shall issue the fixed deposit slips, so as to enable the claimants to withdraw the deposit amount on maturity without approaching the Tribunal once again and the Bank in which amount will kept in F.D. is also directed to release the fixed deposit amount on maturity without insisting for any further order from the Tribunal. The Tribunal shall release Rs.1,15,000/- with proportion interest and issue FD slips to the claimants on the same day and if possible transfer the Rs.1,15,000/- with proportionate interest directly into the SB account of the first claimant by effecting RTGS.
Sd/- JUDGE NC.