Manju and Others vs Ramesh Chand and Others

J.R. Midha, J.—The appellants have challenged the impugned award of the Learned Tribunal whereby the compensation of Rs. 5,47,484/- has been awarded to the appellants. The appellants seek enhancement of the award amount.

The accident dated 10th July, 2006 resulted in the death of Brij Mohan Gupta. The deceased was survived by his widow, two sons, two daughters and mother who filed the claim petition before the Learned Tribunal.

The deceased was aged 43 years at the time of the accident and was working as a driver. However, in the absence of any documentary proof of income, the learned Tribunal took the minimum wages of Rs. 3,736/- per month and deducted 1/5th towards the personal expenses of the deceased and applied the multiplier of 15 to compute the loss of dependency at Rs. 5,37,984/-. Rs. 5,000/- has been awarded towards loss of consortium, Rs. 2,000/- has been awarded towards funeral expenses and Rs. 2,500/- has been awarded for loss of estate. The total compensation awarded is Rs. 5,47,484/-.

The Learned Counsel for the appellants submit that the learned Tribunal has not taken into consideration the increase in minimum wages due to inflation and increase in price index. The Learned Counsel further submits that the learned Tribunal has not awarded any compensation for loss of love and affection and the compensation awarded for loss of consortium and loss of estate is on a lower side.

It is well settled by the judgments of this Court in the cases 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 that the minimum wages get doubled over the period of 10 years due to inflation and increase in price index and the Court should take judicial notice of the same and compute the compensation by taking the average of minimum wages and its double.

Following the aforesaid judgments, the income of the deceased for computation of compensation is taken to be Rs. 5,604/- [(Rs. 3,736 + Rs. 7,472)/2]. Deducting 1/5th towards the personal expenses of the deceased and applying the multiplier of 15, the loss of dependency of the appellants is computed to be Rs. 8,06,976/- (Rs. 5,604 X 4/5 X 12 X 15).

The learned Tribunal has not awarded any compensation for loss of love and affection. Rs. 10,000/- is awarded for loss of love and affection. The compensation awarded by the learned Tribunal towards loss of consortium is enhanced from Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 10,000/- and the compensation for loss of estate is also enhanced from Rs. 2,500/- to Rs. 10,000/-. The appellants are entitled to total compensation of Rs. 8,38,976/- (Rs. 8,06,976 + Rs. 10,000 + Rs. 10,000 + Rs. 10,000 + Rs. 2,000).

The appeal is allowed and the award amount is enhanced from Rs. 5,47,484/- to Rs. 8,38,976/- along with interest @ 7% per annum from the date of filing of petition till realization.

The enhanced amount along with interest be deposited by respondent No. 3 with the Registrar General of this Court within 30 days.

The order with respect to the shares of the appellants and the mode of disbursement shall be passed on the next date of hearing. The claimants are directed to remain present in Court on the next date of hearing.

Renotify on 2nd September, 2009.

Copy of this order be given ''Dasti'' to Learned Counsel for both the parties under signatures of Court Master.