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Judgment
N.K. Patil, J.
This appeal by the appellants/claimants is directed against the impugned judgment and award dated 19.02.2013 passed in MVC No. 3429/2011 on the file of the VIII Addl. SCJ and XXXIII ACMM and Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-V, Bangalore City, (hereinafter referred to as '' Tribunal'' for short), for enhancement of compensation.
The Tribunal by its judgment and award, has awarded a sum of Rs. 8,15,000/- under different heads with interest at 6% per annum from the date of petition till the date of deposit, as against the claim of the appellants for a sum of Rs. 30,00,000/-, on account of the death the deceased Sri. Shreyassu in the road traffic accident. The appellants have presented this appeal on the ground that the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is inadequate and it requires to be enhanced.
In brief, the facts of the case are:
The appellant Nos. 1 and 2 are the parents and appellant Nos. 3 and 4 are grandparents of the deceased. They filed a claim petition before the Tribunal under Section 166 of M.V. Act, claiming compensation against the respondents, on account of the death of the deceased in the road traffic accident, contending that on 3.6.2011 at about 6.20 a.m. deceased was proceeding on Motor Cycle bearing Reg. No. KA.43J.3928 from his village towards Bashettahalli near Doddaballapur Railway Station Circle at that time, the driver of the Lorry bearing Reg. No.KA.18.A.666 came in a rash and negligent manner and dashed against the motor cycle. Due to which, deceased sustained grievous injuries and died on the spot."
It is the further case of the appellants that, deceased was aged about 22 years, hale and healthy prior to the accident, working as a Fitter in a Private Limited Company and drawing the salary of Rs. 11,953/- per month and looking after the welfare of the family. The untimely death of the deceased has affected the social and financial condition of the family as they have lost their earning member, apart from mental shock and agony.
The said claim petition had come up for consideration before the Tribunal. The Tribunal, after appreciating the oral and documentary evidence and other material available on file, has allowed the claim petition in part and awarded the compensation of Rs. 8,15,000/- under different heads with interest at 6% p.a, from the date of petition till the date of deposit.
Not being satisfied with the compensation awarded by the Tribunal, the appellants have presented this appeal, for enhancement of compensation.
We have heard the learned counsel appearing for the appellants and learned counsel for Insurer.
The submission of learned counsel Sri. K.R. Muraliknshna, appearing for the appellants, at the outset is that, the Tribunal has erred in not awarding reasonable compensation towards loss of dependency and towards conventional heads and what is awarded is on the lower side. To substantiate the said submission, he submitted that, deceased was aged about 22 years, working as Fitter in a private Limited Company and drawing the salary of Rs. 11,953/- per month as per Ex. P8. Therefore, he submitted that, Ex. P8 may be accepted and the income of the deceased may be re-assessed at Rs. 11,953/- per month and after deducting 50% towards his personal and living expenses and adopting the multiplier of ''13'' taking the age of the mother of the deceased, reasonable compensation may be awarded towards loss of dependency. He further submits that the compensation awarded by the Tribunal towards conventional heads and the rate of interest awarded at 6% p.a., is on the lower side and is liable to be enhanced reasonably. Therefore, he submitted that the impugned judgment and award is liable to be modified.
As against this, learned counsel for the Insurer, inter-alia, contended and substantiated that the impugned judgment and award passed by the Tribunal is just and proper and after due appreciation of the oral and documentary evidence available on file and therefore, it does not call for interference.
After hearing the learned counsel for both the parties and after careful perusal of the material available on record at threadbare, including the impugned judgment and award passed by the Tribunal, the only point that arises for our consideration is:
"Whether the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is just and reasonable?"
The occurrence of the accident and the resultant death of the deceased are not in dispute. It is also not in dispute that appellants are the parents and grandparents of the deceased. It is the case of the appellants that deceased was aged about 22 years, working as Fitter in a Private Limited Company and drawing the salary of Rs. 11,953/- per month as per Ex. P8-Salary certificate. To prove the same, appellants have examined PW3. But the Tribunal has not accepted the same while assessing the income of the deceased. Having regard to the age, occupation of the deceased, year of accident and accepting Ex. P8-salary certificate, we reassess the income of the deceased at Rs. 12,000/- per month to meet the ends of justice instead of Rs. 5,000/- per month as assessed by the Tribunal. Out of which, if 50% ( Rs. 6,000/-) is deducted towards the personal and living expenses of the deceased, since he was a bachelor, his net income comes to Rs. 6,000/- per month. The appropriate multiplier applicable taking the age of the younger parent, mother of the deceased as 48 years is ''13'' as rightly adopted by the Tribunal. Therefore, we re-determine the loss of dependency at Rs. 9,36,000/- ( Rs. 6,000/- x 12 x 13) instead of Rs. 7,80,000/- awarded by the Tribunal and accordingly, it is awarded.
Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, we award a sum of Rs. 40,000/- towards loss of love and affection at the rate of Rs. 10,000/- each to the appellant Nos. 1 to 4, Rs. 25,000/- towards loss of estate and Rs. 25,000/- towards transportation and funeral expenses.
Further, as rightly pointed out by the learned counsel appearing for the appellants, the rate of interest awarded by the Tribunal at 6% p.a, from the date of petition till its realization is on the lower side and is liable to be enhanced since the accident is of the year 2011. In the light of the judgment of Apex Court and this Court, we award the rate of interest at 9% per annum from the date of petition till its realization on the enhanced compensation.
In all, the appellants are entitled to the total compensation of Rs. 10,26,000/- instead of Rs. 8,15,000/- awarded by the Tribunal. There would be an enhancement of compensation of Rs. 2,11,000/- with interest at 9% p.a., from the date of petition till its realization.
For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants is allowed in part. The impugned judgment and award dated 19.02.2013 passed in MVC No. 3429/2011 on the file of the VIII Addl. SCJ and XXXIII ACMM and Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-V, Bangalore City, is hereby modified, awarding a sum of Rs. 2,11,000/- with interest at 9% p.a., from the date of petition till its realization in addition to the compensation awarded by the Tribunal.
The Insurer is directed to deposit the enhanced compensation of Rs. 2,11,000/- with interest at 9% p.a., from the date of petition till the date of realization, within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.
Out of the enhanced compensation of Rs. 2,11,000/-, a sum of Rs. 1,50,000/- with proportionate interest shall be invested in the Fixed Deposit in the name of appellant No. 2, mother of the deceased, in any Nationalized or Scheduled or Grameena Bank, for a period of ten years, renewable by another five years, with liberty reserved to her to withdraw the interest accrued on it, periodically.
The remaining sum of Rs. 61,000/- with proportionate interest shall be released in favour of the appellant No. 2 immediately.
Draw the award, accordingly.