By way of filing this appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 the appellant – original claimants have challenged the judgment and order dated 10th January 2005 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Aux.) Bhuj-Kachchh in MAC Petition No.750 of 2002 whereby the Tribunal has awarded Rs.1,54,500/- to the claimants along with conditional interest of 9% per cent from the date of application till realisation. 2 The short facts of the present appeal as per the claimants are that deceased Jesang Vela Harijan was proceeding from Gadhedi Dhar Bus Stop to Aasha Pir Dargah along with his brother Fakira Vela Harijan. It is the case of the claimants that they were proceeding on the extreme left side of the road and at about 15.00 hours they reached near Aasha Pir Dargah Gate. At that time, a Jeep bearing registration No.GJ.12.K.9690 had come from behind the deceased Jesang Vela Harijan and dashed with the deceased due to which he sustained serious injuries. The deceased was removed to Government Hospital at Rapar where he succumbed to his injuries during the course of treatment.
3. The parents of the deceased filed claim petition claiming compensation of Rs.2,19,500 from the original opponents jointly and severally under various heads. The Tribunal after considering the evidence adduced on record has awarded Rs.1,54,500 to the claimants along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum against which the present appeal is filed by the insurance company.
4. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
5. Mr Vishal Mehta, learned counsel for the appellants – original claimants has, inter-alia, submitted that the Tribunal has committed an error in assessing the future loss of income by adopting the multiplier. He, however, pointed out that as per the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of National Insurance Company Ltd. Versus Gurumallamma & Another, reported in 2009 (9) SCALE 764 no multiplier is required to be applied and the Tribunal has to award the compensation as provided in Second Schedule. Paragraph 8 of the said decision reads as under:-
“8. Multiplier stricto sensu is not applicable in the case of fatal accident. The multiplier would be applicable only in case of disability in non-fatal accidents as would appear from the Note 5 appended to the Second Schedule. Thus, even if the application of multiplier is ignored in the present case and the income of the deceased is taken to be Rs.3,300/- per month, the amount of compensation payable would be somewhat between 6,84,000/- to Rs.7,60,000/-. As the Second Schedule provides for a structured formula, the question of determination of payment of compensation by application of judicial mind which is otherwise necessary for a proceeding arising out of a claim petition filed under Section 166 would not arise. The Tribunals in a proceeding under Section 163A of the Act is required to determine the amount of compensation as specified in the Second Schedule. It is not required to apply the multiplier except in a case of injuries and disabilities.”
6. As per Second Schedule to Motors Vehicles Act, the claimants are entitled to Rs.2,42,000 out of which 1/3rd amount is required to be deducted towards personal expenses of the deceased. In that case the claimants are entitled to get Rs.1,61,000 (Rs.2,42,000- Rs.81,000) under the head of dependency benefit. They are also entitled to Rs.4500 under the head of after death ceremony and loss of estate. Thus, in all, the claimants are entitled to Rs.1,65,500. As against that, the Tribunal has awarded Rs.1,54,500. Therefore, the claimants are entitled to get additional amount of compensation of Rs.11,000 along with interest at the rate of 7-1/2%.
7. In the result, the appeal is partly allowed with no order as to costs.
(K.S.Jhaveri, J.) *mohd