Court No. - 33
Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 2030 of 2009 Appellant :- Smt. Sonia Pal And Others Respondent :- The New India Assurance Company Ltd. And Another Counsel for Appellant :- Mohd. Naushad Siddiqui,Shreesh Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- P.K.Singh,Vinay Kumar Khare
Hon'ble Dr. Kaushal Jayendra Thaker,J.
1. Heard Mohd. Naushad Siddiqui, learned counsel for the appellant, Sri Vinay Khare, learned counsel for the respondent and perused the judgment and order impugned. None appeared for the respondent-owner.
2. This appeal, at the behest of the claimants, challenges the judgment and award dated 20.3.2009 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/Additional District Judge, Court No.17, Kanpur Nagar (hereinafter referred to as 'Tribunal') in M.A.C.P. No. 297 of 2008 awarding a sum of Rs.2,21,700/- with interest at the rate of 7% as compensation.
3. The accident is not in dispute. The issue of negligence decided by the Tribunal is not in dispute. The Insurance Company has not challenged the liability imposed on them. The only issue to be decided is, the quantum of compensation awarded.
4. 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 unjust and it should have been considered at least Rs.4,500/- per month as the deceased doing the business of milk selling. It is submitted that the Tribunal has not granted any amount towards future loss of income the deceased which should be 40% of the income 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 the amount under non-pecuniary heads and the interest awarded by the Tribunal are on the lower side and require enhancement.
5. As against this, learned counsel for the respondent states that the quantum which is awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper and does not call for any interference as income which has not been proved, cannot be granted. It is also stated that as the deceased was 40 years of age, the future prospects should be 25% and not 40% as asked by the appellants.
6. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and perusing the judgment and order impugned, this Court feels that the income of the deceased, in the year of accident, should have been at least Rs.4,000/- per month namely Rs.48,000/- per year, to which as the deceased was in the age bracket of 40-50 years, 25% of the income i.e. Rs. 12,000/- requires to be added as future income of the deceased in view of the decision in Pranay Sethi (Supra) which would bring the annual figure to Rs.48,000 + 12,000 = 60,000/-. The deduction of towards personal expenses of the deceased and the multiplier are just and proper. Hence, after deduction of 1/3rd, the amount would come to Rs.40,000/-. In addition to that, Rs.70,000/- is granted under the head of non-pecuniary damages in view of the decision in Pranay Sethi (Supra). Now, the total amount comes to Rs.40,000 x 15 + 70,000 = 6,70,000/-. Out of which 40% is deducted as the deceased was himself negligent to the tune of 40%. Hence, Rs.4,02,000/- would be the total compensation available to the claimants.
7. As far as issue of rate of interest is concerned, the interest should be 7.5% in view of the latest decision of the Apex Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Mannat Johal and Others, 2019 (2) T.A.C. 705 (S.C.) wherein the Apex Court has held as under :
"13. The aforesaid features equally apply to the contentions urged on behalf of the claimants as regards the rate of interest. The Tribunal had awarded interest at the rate of 12% p.a. but the same had been too high a rate in comparison to what is ordinarily envisaged in these matters. The High Court, after making a substantial enhancement in the award amount, modified the interest component at a reasonable rate of 7.5% p.a. and we find no reason to allow the interest in this matter at any rate higher than that allowed by High Court."
8. No other grounds are urged orally when the matter was heard.
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 respondent-Insurance Company shall deposit the amount within a period of 12 weeks from today with interest at the rate of 7.5% from the date of filing of the claim petition till the amount is deposited. The amount already deposited be deducted from the amount to be deposited.
Order Date :- 19.12.2019 DKS