Iffco Tokio General Insurance Co. Ltd. vs Seema and Others

G. P. Mittal, J.—The Appellant Iffco Tokio General Insurance Co. Ltd. seeks reduction of compensation of Rs. 28,84,000/- awarded in favour of Respondents No. 1 to 4 for the death of Deepak aged 26 years, who died in a motor accident, which took place on 14.09.2008. The following contentions are raised on behalf of the Appellant:-

(i) The deceased was working with M/s. Shivam Infocom Pvt. Ltd. only for the last three months. There was no evidence led by the Respondents with regard to the future prospects. The Tribunal erred in granting future prospects.

(ii) There was no evidence that father was dependant on the deceased. As per Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, the number of dependants being three 1/3rd of the deceased''s income was liable to be deducted towards personal expenses.

(iii) Amount of Rs. 1,00,000/- awarded towards loss of love and affection is excessive.

In order to establish the deceased''s income the Respondents No. 1 to 4 examined PW-4 Pradeep Bist, Administration Head, M/s. Shivam Infocom Pvt. Ltd. He proved the salary sheet Ex. PW-4/A and the certificate Ex. PW-4/B to show that on the date of his death the deceased was getting a salary of Rs. 15,160/-. It is well settled that in order to claim the benefit of future prospects the Claimants were required to prove that the deceased had bright future prospects or that he was in permanent employment Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, Bijoy Kumar Dugar Vs. Bidyadhar Dutta and Others, . Neither of the two was done rather, PW-4 deposed that the deceased was working with M/s. Shivam Infocom for the last three months only. In these circumstances, future prospects were not admissible. Further, in the salary slip it was proved that the deceased was entitled for conveyance expenses of Rs. 3,000/- which should be deducted from the income of the deceased as rightly done by the Tribunal. Therefore, the income of the deceased should be taken as Rs. 12,160/-.

The deceased was a young boy of 26 years. No evidence was led that his father Narayan Singh was financially dependant on him. As per Sarla Verma (supra) when the number of dependants are 2 to 3 deduction of 1/3rd of deceased''s income is required to be made towards personal living expenses. The Tribunal erred in making deduction of 1/4th towards personal living expenses of the deceased.

The Tribunal awarded a sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- towards loss of love and affection. I may mention that, where the Claimants are entitled to loss of dependency on actual basis, normally a nominal sum is awarded under the head of loss of love and affection. Loss of love and affection can never be measured in terms of money. Thus, uniformity has to be adopted by the Courts while granting non-pecuniary damages irrespective of the number of dependents. The Supreme Court in Sunil Sharma and Others Vs. Bachitar Singh and Others, and in Baby Radhika Gupta and Others Vs. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. and Others, granted only Rs. 25,000/- (in total to all the claimants) under the head of loss of love and affection. Thus, I would reduce the compensation under this head to Rs. 25,000/- only.

The loss of dependency of the deceased thus works out to be 16,13,062/- ( Rs. 12,160 x 12 - Rs. 3,592/- (income tax) - 1/3rd x 17 = 16,13,062/-) and the compensation is reassessed as under: -

S. No.

Compensation Head

Awarded by Tribunal

Awarded by High Court

1.

Loss of Dependency

27,54,000

16,13,062

2.

Loss of Love and Affection

1,00,000

25,000

3.

Loss of Consortium

10,000

10,000

4.

Funeral Expenses

10,000

10,000

5.

Loss of Estate

10,000

10,000

Total

28,84,000

16,68,062

The overall compensation is reduced from Rs. 28,84,000/- to Rs. 16,68,062/-. The excess amount of Rs. 12,15,938/- along with interest earned, if any, during the pendency of the Appeal shall be refunded to the Appellant Insurance Company.

I would not interfere in the award of interest @ 9% as the period of interest is not long and the Bank rate of interest has risen during the last one or two years. The awarded amount along with interest after deducting the amount of interim compensation if paid shall be disbursed in terms of the Tribunal''s order. The Appeal is allowed in above terms.