IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA, BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 26TH DAY OF JULY, 2019 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KRISHNA S.DIXIT M.F.A. NO.4885 OF 2019 (MV) BETWEEN:
M/S ROYAL SUNDARAM GENERAL INSURANCE CO LTD., BRANCH OFFICE NO.132, 3RD FLOOR, SHIKA TOWERS, RAMAVILAS ROAD, MYSORE.
THROUGH CORPORATE OFFICE SUBRAMANYAM BUILDINGS, II FLOOR, N0.1, CLUB HOUSE ROAD, ANNASALAI, CHENNAI-2, BY AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY. ... APPELLANT (BY SRI.K.SURYANARAYANA RAO, ADVOCATE) AND:
1. PAVITHRA, W/O LATE R.SOMU, AGED ABOUT 26 YEARS, 2. AMRUTHA, D/O LATE R.SOMU, AGED ABOUT 7 YEARS, 3. NEELAMMA, W/O RAJANNA, AGED ABOUT 56 YEARS, 4. RAJANNA, S/O LATE NINGANNA, AGED ABOUT 62 YEARS, RESPONDENT-2 MINOR, REPRESENTED BY MOTHER RESPONDENT-1 ALL ARE RESIDING AT 2ND CROSS, TAVARAGERE MANDYA CITY.
5. CHALUVARAJU H.K, S/O KRISHNEGOWDA, MAJOR IN AGE, D.HOSUR VILLAGE, K.HONNALAGERE, MADDUR TALUK, MANDYA DISTRICT. ... RESPONDENTS (SMT.BHUSHANI KUMAR, ADVOCATE FOR RESPONDENT NOS.1, 3 & 4; R-2 MINOR; V/O DATED 26.07.2019, NOTICE TO R5 IS D/W) THIS MFA IS FILED U/S 173(1) OF MV ACT AGAINST THE JUDGMENT AND AWARD DATED: 08.04.2019 PASSED IN MVC NO.1725/2017 ON THE FILE OF THE II ADDITIONAL SENIOR CIVIL JUDGE & MACT, MANDYA, AWARDING COMPENSATION OF RS.28,20,600/- WITH INTEREST @ 6% P.A. FROM THE DATE OF PETITION TILL DEPOSIT.
THIS APPEAL COMING ON FOR ADMISSION THIS DAY, THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:-
J U D G M E N T Though this matter is listed for Admission, with the consent of learned counsel for both sides, it is taken up for final disposal.
2. This appeal by the insurer calls in question the judgment & award dated 8.4.2019 made by MACT at Mandya, whereby a compensation of Rs.28,20,600/- plus Rs.60,000/- with interest at the rate of 6% p.a on the former subject to a usual condition of bank deposit and also of apportionment, has been awarded. The Claimant/respondents No.1, 3 & 4 have entered appearance through their counsel Smt.Bhushani Kumar, the notice to respondent No.5 having been dispensed with, in terms of Memo.
3. Learned counsel for the appellant vehemently argues that the award of compensation is too much on the higher side, going by the contemporary standards; this happened because of the MACT taking Rs.14,000/- as the monthly income of the deceased acting on the salary certificate issued by Nandi Motors. Learned counsel for the respondent/claimants makes submission in justification of the impugned award.
4. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and having perused the Appeal Papers, this court grants limited indulgence in the matter since compensation appears to be a little on the higher side on the following grounds:
(i) Rs.14,000/- was taken by the MACT as the monthly income of the deceased on the basis of the salary certificate issued by Nandi Motors; however, none from the said Nandi Motors was examined;
(ii) in the claim petition, the respondent/claimants have stated that the deceased was self employed; this admission has not been explained away at least in the evidence, if not by the amendment of the claim petition itself; and, (iii) the vehicular accident; the rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle and the resultant death of the bread winner of the family are not in dispute; regard being had to the consensual submission made at the Bar and the broad version emerging from the Joint Memo dated 26.07.2019, the compensation amount needs to be recalculated as under:
Income to be taken at Rs.10,000/- p.m;
40% to be added to this in view of the decision in the Case of National Insurance Company Limited v. Pranay Sethi and Others, AIR 2017 SC 5157;
This comes to Rs.14,000/- p.m from which 1/4th is to be deducted i.e., Rs.14,000/- - Rs.3,500/- = Rs.10,500/-
5. Thus, the compensation works out to be Rs.10,500/- x 12 = Rs.1,26,000/- x 17 = Rs.21,52,000/- + Rs.1,55,000/- = 23,07,000/-, which stands rounded of to Rs.23,00,000/-
In the above circumstances, this appeal succeeds in part; the impugned judgment & award are modified downwardly revising the compensation from Rs.28,60,600/- to Rs.23,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty Three lakh) only; all other terms and conditions remaining intact. From the said amount, Rs.60,000/- needs to be paid to respondent No.4 Sri.Rajanna as directed by the MACT and no interest is payable on this amount.
The appellant/insurer shall deposit the award amount with the jurisdictional MACT with all accruals within a period of three weeks.
The amount in deposit in the Registry shall be transmitted to the jurisdictional MACT for immediate disbursal to the respondent/claimants.
I.A.No.1/2019 pales into insignificance.
No costs.
Sd/- JUDGE cbc