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Judgment
B. Sreenivase Gowda, J.—This appeal is by the claimants seeking enhancement of compensation awarded by the Tribunal. Heard, the
appeal is admitted and with the consent of learned counsel appearing for parties, it is taken up for final disposal.
For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to as they are referred to in the claim petition before the Tribunal.
As there is no dispute regarding death of the deceased in a road traffic accident occurred on 27.11.2008 due to rash and negligent driving of the
bus bearing registration No. KA-17-A-6799 by its driver and liability of the insurer of the offending vehicle, the only point that arises for my
consideration in the appeal is:
Whether quantum of compensation awarded by the Tribunal is just and reasonable or does it call for enhancement?
After hearing the learned counsel appearing for the parties and perusing the judgment and award of the Tribunal, I am of the view that the
compensation awarded by the Tribunal is not just and reasonable, it is on the lower side and hence it is required to be enhanced.
The deceased was a student aged about 14 years at the time of his death in the accident as per PM report Ex. P-4. The parents of the deceased
filed a claim petition seeking compensation u/s 166 of MV Act. The claimants in support of their contention that their deceased son apart from
studying in Government High School, Chennagiri, he was also helping his mother by supplying milk to hotels and customers in the village and
earning a sum of Rs. 6,000/- per month except examining the mother of the deceased as PW-1, they have not produced any documents
establishing the income of the deceased. In the absence of proof of income, considering his age as 14 years, year of accident as 2008 and that he
was helping his mother in the village in her day to day domestic work by supplying milk after school hours, his notional income could be assessed
at Rs. 2,000/- per month. As deceased was a bachelor at the time of his death, 50% of his income is to be deducted towards his personal
expenses and remaining 50% of his income is to be taken as his contribution to family. The multiplier of ''15'' has to be applied based on the
younger age of the parents i.e., mother, who was aged about 41 years at the relevant point of time. Therefore, the ''loss of dependency'' works out
to Rs. 1,80,000/- (2000 x 1/2 x 15 x 12) and it is awarded as against Rs. 1,50,000/- awarded by the Tribunal.
A sum of Rs. 75,000/- is awarded towards ''non-pecuniary damages''.
Thus, the claimants are entitled for the following compensation:-
Accordingly, the appeal is allowed in part. The judgment and award passed by the Tribunal is modified to the extent stated herein above. The
claimants are entitled for an additional compensation of Rs. 30,000/- with interest at 6% p.a. from the date of claim petition till the date of
realisation. The Insurance Company is directed to deposit the additional compensation amount with interest within two months from the date of
receipt of a copy of this judgment. The same is ordered to be released in favour of both the claimants in equal proportion immediately after the
deposit.
No order as to costs.