Brijmawati Singh vs Krishna Tulsyan

Present appeal for the enhancement of the compensation u/s 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been preferred by the appellant-claimant against the judgment and award dated 5th February, 2007 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Lucknow in Claim Petition No. 134 of 2005, Brijmawati Singh and Others v. Sri Krishna Tulsyan and Another), whereby a total compensation of Rs. 7,27,000 along with 7% interest was awarded. Brief facts of the case are that on 15th April, 2005 when the deceased Ram Raj Singh was going to his house Ismayelpur from Gramin Bank, Chaubsi by a motorcycle then a Tavera bearing No. UP-65/AA 0261 coming from the Lucknow side, whose driver was driving it very rashly and negligently and hit the motorcycle. He got serious injuries and during the treatment at Medical College, Lucknow, he died. Necessary FIR was lodged. The Tavera was insured with M/s. Iffco Tokyo General Insurance Co. Limited and on the date of accident the Policy was alive and the driver of the Tavera was also holding a valid driving licence. The legal heirs of the deceased have filed a Claim Petition before the Tribunal, who after considering the entire evidence, awarded a compensation of Rs. 7,27,000 along with the interest against the Insurance Company. Still not being satisfied, the appellant-claimants have filed the present appeal for the enhancement of the compensation.

Heard Mr. Rajendra Jaiswal, learned Counsel for the claimant-appellants. None appeared on behalf of the respondents, though the name of Sri Vinayajit Lal Verma is printed in the cause list.

After hearing the learned Counsel and on perusal of record, it appears that the factum of accident and the pronouncement of the award are not in dispute. The only dispute is pertaining to the deduction for personal expenses.

It is submitted that Rule 220A(ii) of the Uttar Pradesh Motor Vehicles (Eleventh Amendment) Rules, 2011 provides that where the dependents are four to six, the deduction will have to be made one-fourth from the total income. In the instant case, the dependents are four and, as such, the deduction will have to be made one-fourth from the income of the deceased.

It appears that the Tribunal, after examining the entire material and evidence, has estimated the income of the deceased as Rs. 6,000 per month, which comes to Rs. 72,000 per annum. Out of it, one-fourth is to be deducted for living and personal expenses. Thus, it comes to Rs. 54,000 per annum.

By looking the age of the deceased, the multiplier of 15 was rightly applied by the Tribunal. Thus, by applying the multiplier of 15, the compensation comes to 54,000 x 15 = Rs. 8,10,000. In addition, the claimants are also entitled for Rs. 9,500 for funeral expenses and loss of estate, etc. So, the total compensation comes to Rs. 8,10,000+9,500 = Rs. 8,19,500 and the same will have to be paid along with the interest as mentioned in the impugned order from the date of filing of the Claim Petition before the Tribunal.

In view of above, we modify the impugned judgment and award dated 5th February, 2007 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Lucknow to the effect that the appellant-claimants are entitled for the compensation of Rs. 8,19,500 along with interest as mentioned in the impugned order.

Accordingly, the respondent-Insurance Company is directed to deposit the amount/remaining amount along with interest before the concerned Tribunal within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. The amount already deposited be adjusted. The Registry of this Court is also directed to send the money/lower Court record, if any, within a period of one month to the concerned Tribunal, who is further directed to disburse the amount, in terms of the award within a period of three months thereafter. In the result, the appeal filed by the claimant-appellant is partly allowed.