Kunj Bihari vs Balram Bhardwaj

Sanjay K. Agrawal, J

This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short, ‘the Act of 1988’) has been preferred by the appellants herein/claimants seeking enhancement in the amount of compensation, challenging the impugned award dated 20-1-2023 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Mungeli, District Mungeli in Claim Case No.74/2018, by which the learned Claims Tribunal has awarded a total sum of ₹ 3,78,200 /- as compensation for the death of Radhelal Chandrakar, who was a Tube-well Mechanic, aged about 50 years at the time of incident. The appellants herein/claimants are son and wife, respectively, of deceased Radhelal Chandrakar.

Mr. Arjun Lal Singroul, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants herein/claimants, would submit that just and proper compensation has not been awarded to the claimants and apart from that the finding of the Claims Tribunal regarding contributory negligence and deduction of 50% from compensation towards contributory negligence of the deceased is totally unwarranted, as such, the said finding deserves to be set aside and compensation should be enhanced by allowing the appeal and awarding suitable compensation.

Ms. Harneet Kaur Khanuja, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Insurance Company/respondent No.2 herein, would oppose the appeal and support the impugned award.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties and considered their rival submissions made herein-above and also went through the record with utmost circumspection.

The Insurance Company has only taken a halfhearted plea of contributory negligence in para 12 of its written statement stating that the accident occurred on account of the own negligence on the part of the deceased. Jitendra Chandrakar (AW-2) – eyewitness, has clearly stated that the offending vehicle Bolero was being driven rashly and negligently by Balram Bharadwaj and it dashed the motorcycle. He has been subjected to cross-examination, but there is nothing in his statement which could show that the deceased was also totally negligent. The said fact has been refuted by Jitendra Chandrakar. As such, there is no evidence on behalf of the Insurance Company to establish the plea of contributory negligence. Accordingly, the finding of contributory negligence and 50% deduction towards the same is set aside.

Thus, considering the evidence available on record and that the deceased was Tube-well Mechanic, in light of the aforesaid discussion and in light of the judgments of the Supreme Court rendered in the matters of National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi (2017) 16 SCC 680, Sarla Verma & Ors. v. Delhi Transport Corporation & Ors (2009) 6 SCC 121 and Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors (2018) 18 SCC 130, this Court is computing the compensation as below:-

S.

Heads

Compensation

Compensation awarded

No.

awarded by the

by this Court/New

Tribunal

Calculation

1.

Income

₹  6,000/-  x  12  =

₹

₹ 8,000 x 12 = ₹ 96,000/-

72,000/-

(Yearly

(Yearly Income)

Income)

2.

Future

(+)  10%

i.e.  ₹  7,200;

(+) 10% i.e. ₹ 9,600  total

Prospect

total yearly income = ₹

yearly income = ₹ 96,000

72,000  +

7,200  =

₹

+ 9,600 = ₹ 1,05,600/-

79,200/-

3.

Deduction

(-) 1/3 = ₹ 26,400/-

(-) 1/3 = ₹ 35,200/-

₹ 79,200 – 26,400 = ₹

₹ 1,05,600 – 35,200 = ₹

52,800/-

70,400/-

4.

Multiplier

(x) 13 = ₹ 6,86,400/-

(x) 13 = ₹ 9,15,200/-

5.

Loss of Estate

₹ 15,000/-

₹ 16,500/-

6.

Funeral

₹ 15,000/-

₹ 16,500/-

Expenses

7.

Loss

of

₹ 40,000/-

44,000/- x 2 = ₹ 88,000/-

Consortium

Total

₹ 7,56,400/-

₹ 10,36,200/-

Deduction

₹ 3,78,200/-

NIL

50%

towards

Contributory

Negligence

Total amount

₹ 3,78,200/-

₹ 10,36,200/-

awarded

In view of the aforesaid analysis, the amount of compensation of ₹ 3,78,200/- awarded by the Claims Tribunal is enhanced to ₹ 10,36,200/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of ₹ 3,78,200/-, the appellants are held entitled for an additional amount of ₹ 6,58,000/-. The concerned respondent is directed to deposit the amount of compensation as enhanced by this Court within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. The additional amount of compensation shall carry interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of claim application before the Tribunal i.e. 29-11-2018 till its realisation. Rest of the conditions of the impugned award shall remain intact.

Accordingly, this appeal is allowed in part and the impugned award is modified to the extent as indicated herein-above.