Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. vs Baleshwar and Others

G. P. Mittal, J.—The Appellant Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. seeks reduction of compensation of Rs. 6,13,500/- awarded for the death of Nitant Lakhanpal to the Respondents No.1 & 2 who are mother and brother of the deceased. The contentions raised on behalf of the Appellant are:

i) That a sum of Rs. 50,000/- has been awarded for loss of love and affection which is on the higher side;

ii) The interest has been awarded @ 9% per annum which is high.

Loss of love and affection cannot be Rs. 50,000/-. The Supreme Court in Sunil Sharma v. Bachitar Singh (2011) 11 SCC 425 and in Baby Radhika Gupta v. Oriental Insurance Company Limited (2009) 17 SCC 627 granted only Rs. 25,000/- (in total to all the claimants) under the head of loss of love and affection. I would follow the same. The compensation under the head of loss of love and affection is reduced from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 25,000/-.

As far as reduction of the interest granted @ 9% is concerned, in Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, , interest was awarded @ 7.5% per annum. The Petition was filed on 15.03.2007 and came to be decided by the impugned judgment on 14.09.2011. Although, I myself have been awarding interest @ 7.5%. Considering the small period of the pendency of the Petition and the fact that the interest rates are firming up, I would not like to interfere in the award of interest @ 9%.

The overall compensation stands reduced from Rs. 6,13,500/- to Rs. 5,88,500/-.

The excess amount i.e. Rs. 25,000/- along with interest, if any, accrued during the pendency of the Appeal shall be returned to the Appellant Insurance Company. The amount deposited with SBI, Saket Court Branch shall be disbursed in favour of the First Respondent in terms of the Tribunal''s order.

The statutory amount shall also be returned to the Appellant through counsel. The Appeal is allowed in above terms.