Jasbir Singh and Others vs Palwinder Singh and Others

Ritu Bahri, J—The present appeal has been preferred by the claimants-appellants, seeking enhancement of the amount of compensation awarded by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bhiwani (for short, ''the Tribunal'') to the tune of Rs. 2,75,000/-, vide impugned award dated 17.04.2013.

The facts which are not in dispute are that on 15.02.2012, the deceased Sarabjit Singh was returning back to his village Shekhupur by paddling his bicycle with due care and caution and when he reached near Gurudwara Sahib of village Farid then a tractor bearing No. PB-07-G-2367 (T) came from behind in a negligent manner at a very high speed and hit the bicycle of the deceased and than ran over him after overtaking Kuldeep Singh., who was going on a motorcycle bearing registration No. PB-12-G-0748 towards his village Shelhpur. The deceased died on the spot. F.I.R. (Ex P-2) was registered in this regard on the statement of Kuldeep Singh.

The deceased-Sarabjit Singh in the present case was 12 years old child at the time of the accident. The deceased was a minor and was unmarried. The learned tribunal has taken the notional income of the deceased at Rs. 15,000/- per annum and after deducting 1/3rd, and applied the multiplier of 16 keeping in view the age of his parents, in view of Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, (2009) ACJ 1298 : AIR 2009 SC 3104 : (2009) CLT 1055 : (2009) 6 JT 495 : (2009) 6 SCALE 129 : (2009) 6 SCC 121 : (2009) 5 SCR 1098 : (2009) 5 UJ 2280 : (2009) AIRSCW 4992 : (2009) 3 Supreme 487 , the compensation has been assessed at Rs. 2,40,000/-. He was also allowed Rs. 5,000/- towards funeral expense and Rs. 30,000/- towards love and affection. The total compensation awarded to the claimants was Rs. 2,75,000/-.

Learned counsel for the appellants contends that the Tribunal has erred in awarding the compensation, in view of the judgment of Hon''ble the Supreme Court in a case of Kishan Gopal and Another Vs. Lala and Others, (2013) 3 ACC 878 : (2013) ACJ 2594 : (2013) 9 AD 193 : (2013) 5 CTC 212 : (2013) 11 JT 563 : (2014) 1 PLR 276 : (2013) 4 RCR(Civil) 276 : (2013) 10 SCALE 580 : (2014) 1 SCC 244 " wherein in a case of death of child aged 10 years, Hon''ble the Supreme Court took the notional income of the deceased at Rs. 30,000/- and applied the multiplier of 15 and the compensation came to Rs. 4.50 lacs, Rs. 50,000/- was given towards loss of love and affection, funeral expenses, last rites etc. Hon''ble the Supreme Court while dealing with a case filed under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act laid criteria for awarding the compensation in a case filed under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicle Act. Hon''ble the Supreme Court in para 18 of the judgment has held as under:--

"18. For this purpose, it would be necessary for us to refer to Second Schedule under Section 163-A of the M.V. Act, at clause No. 6 which refers to notional income for compensation to those persons who had no income prior to accident. The relevant portion of clause No. 6 states as under:

"6. Notional income for compensation to those who had no income prior to accident:..............(a) Non-earning persons - Rs. 15,000/- p.a." The aforesaid clause of the Second Schedule to Section 163-A of the M.V. Act, is considered by this Court in the case of Lata Wadhwa and Others Vs. State of Bihar and Others, (2001) 2 ACC 316 : (2001) ACJ 1735 : AIR 2001 SC 3218 : (2001) 91 FLR 705 : (2001) 6 JT 431 : (2001) 2 LLJ 1559 : (2001) 5 SCALE 286 : (2001) 8 SCC 197 : (2001) AIRSCW 3086 : (2001) 6 Supreme 151 , while examining the tortuous liability of the tort-feasor has examined the criteria for awarding compensation for death of children in accident between age group of 10 to 15 years and held in the above case that the compensation shall be awarded taking the contribution of the children to the family at Rs. 12,000/- p.a. and multiplier 11 has been applied taking the age of the father and then under the conventional heads the compensation of Rs. 25,000/- was awarded. Thus, a total sum of Rs. 1,57,000/- was awarded in that case. After noting the submission made on behalf of TISCO in the said case that the compensation determined for the children of all age groups could be double as in its view the determination made was grossly inadequate and the observation was further made that loss of children is irrecusable and no amount of money could compensate the parents. Having regard to the environment from which the children referred to in that case were brought up, their parents being reasonably well-placed officials of TISCO, it was directed that the compensation amount for the children between the age group of 5 to 10 years should be three times. In other words, it should be Rs. 1.5 lakhs to which under the conventional heads a sum of Rs. 50,000/-should be added and thus total amount in each case would be Rs. 2 lakhs. Further, in the case referred to supra it has observed that in so far as the children of age group between 10 to 15 years are concerned, they are all students of Class VI to Class X and are children of employees of TISCO and one of the children was employed in the Company in the said case having regard to the fact the contribution of the deceased child was taken Rs. 12,000/- p.a. appears to be on the lower side and held that the contribution of such children should be Rs. 24,000/- p.a. In our considered view, the aforesaid legal principle laid down in Lata Wadhwa''s case with all fours is applicable to the facts and circumstances of the case in hand having regard to the fact that the deceased was 10 years'' old, who was assisting the appellants in their agricultural occupation which is an undisputed fact. We have also considered the fact that the rupee value has come down drastically from the year 1994, when the notional income of the non-earning member prior to the date of accident was fixed at Rs. 15,000/-. Further, the deceased boy, had he been alive would have certainly contributed substantially to the family of the appellants by working hard. In view of the aforesaid reasons, it would be just and reasonable for us to take his notional income at Rs. 30,000/- and further taking the young age of the parents, namely the mother who was about 36 years old, at the time of accident, by applying the legal principles laid down in the case of Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, (2009) ACJ 1298 : AIR 2009 SC 3104 : (2009) CLT 1055 : (2009) 6 JT 495 : (2009) 6 SCALE 129 : (2009) 6 SCC 121 : (2009) 5 SCR 1098 : (2009) 5 UJ 2280 : (2009) AIRSCW 4992 : (2009) 3 Supreme 487 , the multiplier of 15 can be applied to the multiplicand. Thus, 30,000 x 15 = 4,50,000 and 50,000/- under conventional heads towards loss of love and affection, funeral expenses, last rites as held in General Manager, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Trivandrum Vs. Mrs. Susamma Thomas and others, (1994) ACJ 1 : AIR 1994 SC 1631 : (1994) 107 PLR 1 : (1993) 4 SCALE 643 : (1994) 2 SCC 176 , which is referred to in Lata Wadhwa''s case and the said amount under the conventional heads is awarded even in relation to the death of children between 10 to 15 years old. In this case also we award Rs. 50,000/- under conventional heads. In our view, for the aforesaid reasons the said amount would be fair, just and reasonable compensation to be awarded in favour of the appellants."

Learned counsel for the appellant has further referred to a judgment passed by this Court in a case of Sh. Amandeep Singh v. The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. and others, passed in FAO No. 5 of 2008, decided on 11.09.2014 whereby in a similar circumstances, while dealing with the claim petition filed under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, this Court took the notional income of child at Rs. 30,000/- who died in the year 2006 and thereafter, awarded him lump sum amount of Rs. 1 lacs under the conventional heads of loss of love and affection, funeral expenses and last rites.

In the present case, the compensation is being reassessed as per the judgment titled Rajesh and Others Vs. Rajbir Singh and Others, (2013) 2 ACC 841 : (2013) ACJ 1403 : (2013) 3 CTC 883 : (2013) 8 JT 288 : (2014) 173 PLR 779 : (2013) 3 RCR(Civil) 170 : (2013) 6 SCALE 563 : (2013) 9 SCC 54 : (2014) 1 SCC(L&S) 149 ", Kishan Gopal''s case (supra) and Amandeep''s case (supra), which reads as under:--

The enhanced amount of compensation of Rs. 2,75,000/- shall be payable within a period of forty five days from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order. The appellants shall also get interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition, in view of the judgment of Hon''ble the Supreme Court in a case of Kumari Kiran Vs. Sajjan Singh, (2014) AIRSCW 6328 : (2014) 10 SCALE 462 . The remaining conditions of disbursal of amount shall remain unaltered.

Accordingly, the award stands modified to the above extent and the present appeal is partly allowed.