Indra Devi Goel and Others vs Bhup Singh and Others

J.R. Midha, J.—The appellants have challenged the award of the learned Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs. 1,58,000/- has been awarded to the appellants. The appellants seek the enhancement of the award amount.

The accident dated 24th May, 1992 resulted in the death of Ashok Kumar Goel. The deceased was survived by his widow, two sons, two daughters and father who filed the claim petition before the learned Tribunal.

The deceased was aged 35 years at the time of the accident. However, the learned Tribunal took the age of the deceased as 38 years on the basis of age recorded in the case sheet prepared by the hospital. The deceased was a sweet seller. The claimants claimed the income of the deceased to be Rs. 3,000/- per month. The widow of the deceased appeared in the witness box as PW-6 and deposed that the deceased was self-employed as the sweet seller (Halwai) at bus stand near Nangloi Chowk and was earning Rs. 3,000/- per month. PW-1 further deposed that the deceased provided all comforts of life such as TV, fridge, furniture, cooler and he used to give Rs. 2,500/- per month to the widow to meet the household expenditure. The colleague of the deceased doing similar business appeared as PW-4 and deposed that he was earning Rs. 150/- per day after deducting all expenses and the deceased was an old hawker and had better sales and was earning about Rs. 200/- per day after meeting all expenses. The learned Tribunal took the minimum wages of Rs. 1,107/- for unskilled worker and deducted 1/3rd towards personal expenses and applied the multiplier of 12 to compute the loss of dependency at Rs. 1,08,000/-. Rs. 50,000/- has been awarded towards medical expenses on the treatment of the deceased after the accident. No compensation has been awarded towards loss of love and affection, funeral expenses, loss of consortium and loss of estate.

The learned Counsel for the appellant has urged the following grounds at the time of hearing of this appeal:

(i) The income of the deceased be taken to be Rs. 3,000/- per month on the basis of the evidence led before the learned Tribunal.

(ii) The personal expenses of the deceased be reduced from 1/3rd to 1/4th.

(iii) The compensation be awarded for loss of love and affection, loss of consortium, loss of estate and funeral expenses.

With respect to the income of the deceased, no documentary evidence has been placed on record and, therefore, the learned Tribunal applied the minimum wages. The deceased was a sweet seller (Halwai) and, therefore, was a skilled worker. The minimum wages for skilled worker as on the date of the accident was Rs. 1,259/-. The income of the deceased is, therefore, taken to be Rs. 1,259/- per month on the basis of minimum wages for skilled worker. It is well settled that the minimum wages gets double over the period of 10 years due to inflation and increase in price index and, therefore, judicial notice of increase of minimum wages should be taken. Reference in this regard be made to the judgments in the cases of in the case of Kanwar Devi and Others Vs. Bansal Roadways and Others, , Lekh Raj and Another Vs. Suram Singh and Others, National Insurance Company Ltd. Vs. Renu Devi and Others, and UPSRC v. Munni Devi MAC.APP. No. 310/2007 decided on 28.07.2008. Following the aforesaid judgments, the income of the deceased for the purpose of computation of compensation is taken to be Rs. 1,888.50 [(Rs. 1,259 + Rs. 1,259 x 2)/2] per month.

The deceased has been survived by six legal representatives who were dependent upon him including three minor children. The personal expenses of the deceased are, therefore, taken to be 1/4th instead of 1/3rd following the judgment of the Hon''ble Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation 2009 (6) Scale 129.

The learned Tribunal has taken the age of the deceased to be 38 years. The learned Counsel for the appellant submits that the age of the deceased at the time of the accident was 35 years according to post-mortem report. The widow of the deceased also deposed on oath about the age of the deceased to be 35 years. The learned Tribunal was thus in error in taking the age of the deceased to be 38 years. The age of the deceased is taken to be 35 years and the appropriate multiplier according to the recent judgment of the Hon''ble Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma (supra) is 16. Applying the multiplier of 16, the loss of dependency of the appellants is computed to be Rs. 2,71,944/- (Rs. 1,888.50 x 3/4 x 12 x 16).

The learned Tribunal has not awarded any compensation for loss of consortium, loss of love and affection, loss of estate and funeral expenses. Rs. 10,000/- is awarded for loss of consortium, Rs. 10,000/- for loss of love and affection, Rs. 10,000/- for loss of estate and Rs. 5,000/- for funeral expenses. The award of Rs. 50,000/- by the learned Tribunal towards medical expenses is upheld. The appellants are entitled to the total compensation of Rs. 3,56,994/- (Rs. 2,71,944 + Rs. 10,000 + Rs. 10,000 + Rs. 10,000 + Rs. 5,000 + Rs. 50,000).

The learned Tribunal has awarded interest at the rate of 12% per annum which is not disturbed on the original award amount of Rs. 1,58,000/-. However, on the enhanced award amount, the rate of interest shall be 12% from the date of filing of the petition till the date of award by the learned Tribunal, i.e., 21st September, 1998 and thereafter at the rate of 7.5% per annum till the date of payment.

The appeal is allowed and the award amount is enhanced from Rs. 1,58,000/- to Rs. 3,56,994/- along with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till 21st September, 1998 and thereafter at the rate of 7.5% till the date of payment.

Respondent No. 3 is directed to deposit the enhanced award amount along with interest with the UCO Bank of Delhi High Court Branch by means of accounts payee cheque drawn in the name of UCO Bank A/c Indra Devi Goel within 30 days. The order with respect to the disbursement of the award amount shall be passed on 20th August, 2009.

The appellants are directed to remain present in the Court on the next date of hearing.

Copy of this order be given Dasti to learned Counsel for both the parties under signature of Court Master. 14. Copy of this order be also sent to Mr. M.M. Tandon, Member-Retail Team, UCO Bank Zonal, Parliament Street, New Delhi (Mobile No. 09310356400) through the UCO Bank, High Court Branch under the signature of Court Master.