Court No. - 33
Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 3596 of 2006 Appellant :- Smt. Zahrul Nisha And Others Respondent :- Sanjay Kumar Tiwari And Another Counsel for Appellant :- Ram Singh,Amit Kumar Sinha,Deepali Srivastava Sinha Counsel for Respondent :- Suresh Srivastava
Hon'ble Dr. Kaushal Jayendra Thaker,J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the judgment and order impugned.
2. This appeal, at the behest of the claimants, challenges the judgment and award dated 4.9.2006 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/Special Judge, S.C.S.T., Allahabad (hereinafter referred to as 'Tribunal') in Claim Petition No. 246 of 2003 awarding a sum of Rs.3,27,000/- as compensation with 6% rate of interest.
3. The accident is not in dispute. The issue of negligence decided by the Tribunal is not in dispute. The respondents have not challenged the liability imposed on them. The only issue to be decided is, the 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.5,000/- per month as the deceased was a tailor by profession. It is submitted that the Tribunal has not granted any amount towards future loss of income 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 the multiplier, amount under non-pecuniary heads and interest awarded are on the lower side and require enhancement. It is also submitted that the deduction towards personal expenses of the deceased should be 1/5th as he was survived by seven legal heirs.
5. As against this, learned counsel for the respondent submits that the amount awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper. According to him, the income which has not been proved, cannot be granted.
6. After hearing the learned counsel for the appellant 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. As for as grant of future prospects is concerned, the deceased was in the age bracket of 40-50 years and was self-employed. As per the decision in Pranay Sethi (Supra), the term "self- employment" would mean a person doing any work, hence, 25% of the same i.e. Rs.12,000/- requires to be added as future income of the deceased which would bring the annual figure to Rs.48,000 + 12,000 = 60,000/-. The deduction of towards personal expenses of deceased would be 1/5th and not 1/3rd has as has been done by the Tribunal as he was survived by seven legal heirs namely the widow and six children. Hence, after deduction of 1/5th, the amount would come to Rs.48,000/-. As the deceased was in the age bracket of 41-45, the applicable multiplier would be 14 and not 13 as granted by the Tribunal in view of the decision of the Apex Court in Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation, (2009) 6 SCC 121. 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). Hence, the claimants are entitled to a total compensation of Rs.48,000 x 14 + 70,000 = 7,42,000/-.
7. 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.
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 amount be deposited by the respondent-Insurance Company within 12 weeks from today with interest at the rate of 9% from the date of filing of the claim petition till award and 6% thereafter till the amount is deposited. The amount already deposited be deducted from the amount to be deposited.
Order Date :- 18.12.2019 DKS