New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs Jaila Devi and Others

J.R. Midha

The appellant has challenged the award of the Claims Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs. 2,75,000/- has been awarded to claimants/respondents No. 1 to 3. The accident dated 15th November, 1986 resulted in the death of Ram Janam Yadav. The deceased was survived by his widow and two children who filed the claim petition before the Claims Tribunal. The deceased was aged 32 years at the time of the accident and was employed as driver, earning Rs. 1,200/- per month. The Claims Tribunal added 50% towards the future prospects, deducted 1/3rd towards the personal expenses and applied the multiplier of 17 to compute the loss of dependency at Rs. 2,44,800/- . Rs. 25,000/- was awarded towards loss of love and affection and Rs. 5,000/- was awarded towards funeral expenses. The total compensation awarded was Rs. 2,74,800/- .

The learned counsel for the appellant has urged at the time of hearing of this appeal that there was no documentary proof of income of the deceased and, therefore, the Claims Tribunal should have taken the minimum wages into consideration. It is further submitted that the future prospects should not be taken into consideration. It is further submitted that the liability of the appellant is limited to Rs. 1,50,000/- under the policy.

The widow of the deceased appeared in the witness box as PW-1 to prove the age and income of the deceased. PW-1 deposed that her husband was working as a driver, earning Rs. 1,200/- per month. There was no rebuttal to the said evidence. The plea of limited liability of Rs. 1,50,000/- was not raised in the written statement. The appellant did not lead any evidence to rebut the evidence led by the claimants or to prove the policy in question. The amount awarded by the Claims Tribunal is just, fair and reasonable and does not warrant any interference. There is no infirmity in the findings of the Claims Tribunal.

It is noted that the claimants were also entitled to loss of consortium which has not been awarded by the Claims Tribunal. However, since there is no appearance on behalf of the claimants who have also not filed any cross-objections, no further orders are warranted in this matter.

For the aforesaid reasons, the appeal is dismissed.

The statutory amount deposited by the appellant be returned back to the appellant through counsel within four weeks.

Copy of this judgment be sent to respondents No. 1 to 3 as well as their counsel. The LCR be sent back forthwith.