Sona Devi vs Oriental Insurance Company Ltd.

J.R. Midha, J.—The appellant has challenged the award of the learned Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs. 2,33,140/- has been awarded to the appellant. The appellant seeks enhancement of the award amount.

The accident dated 19th July, 2005 resulted in the death of Mahesh. The deceased was survived by his mother, two brothers and one sister who filed the claim petition before the learned Tribunal.

The deceased was aged 23 years at the time of the accident and was working as a driver earning Rs. 5,000/- per month. However, no documentary evidence was furnished in support of the income and the employer was also not examined. In the absence of sufficient evidence to prove the income, the learned Tribunal took the income of the deceased according to the minimum wages of a skilled worker as Rs. 3,469/- per month. The learned Tribunal applied the multiplier of 11 according to the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Act. The learned Tribunal deducted 1/3rd of the income as personal expenses of the deceased for the first two years and 2/3rd for the remaining period and computed loss of dependency at Rs. 55,504/- for first two years and Rs. 1,52,636/- for the remaining period. Rs. 5,000/- has been awarded towards the personal expenses and Rs. 20,000/- for loss of love and affection. The total compensation awarded is Rs. 2,33,140/-.

The appellant has urged the following grounds at the hearing of this appeal:

(i) The learned Tribunal has not considered the increase in minimum wages to meet the inflation and price index.

(ii) The personal expenses of the deceased should be deducted as 1/2 instead of 2/3rd.

(iii) The compensation be awarded for loss of estate.

With respect to the minimum wages, in Kanwar Devi and Others Vs. Bansal Roadways and Others, , this Court took judicial notice of the increase of minimum wages to meet the price index and inflation rate. The Court has taken the view that the minimum wages get doubled over the period of 10 years and increase in minimum wages is not akin to future prospects. In the case of Lekh Raj and Another Vs. Suram Singh and Others, , this Court took judicial notice of the increase in minimum wages and the compensation was computed on the basis of the said increase. In the case of National Insurance Company Ltd. Vs. Renu Devi and Others, , this Court took the judicial notice of the fact that the minimum wages get almost doubled over the period of 10 years and the compensation was to be computed on that basis. In the case of UPSRC v. Munni Devi, MAC. APP. No. 310/2007 decided on 28.07.2008, this Court followed the aforesaid judgments and observed that the wages under the Minimum Wages Act became almost more than double within a span of 10 years period due to price index. Following the aforesaid judgments, the income of the deceased is taken to be Rs. 5203.50 rounded off as 5,204/- by taking the average of minimum wages of Rs. 3,469 + Rs. 6,938/-.

The deceased was unmarried and, therefore the personal expenses of the deceased have to be deducted as 1/2 instead of 2/3rd. After deducting 1/2 out of the income of Rs. 5,204/-, the dependency of the appellant is computed at Rs. 2,602/-.

The deceased was unmarried and his mother was 51 years old at the time of the accident and, therefore, by applying the multiplier of 11, the loss of dependency of the mother is computed to be Rs. 3,43,464/- (Rs. 2,602 x 12 X 11).

The learned Tribunal has awarded fair compensation of Rs. 20,000/- for loss of love and affection and Rs. 5,000/- towards funeral expenses. However, the learned Tribunal has not awarded any amount towards loss of estate. Rs. 10,000/- is awarded to the appellants towards loss of estate. Adding the said amount, the total compensation payable to the mother is computed to be Rs. 3,78,434/-.

The appeal is allowed. The award amount is enhanced from Rs. 2,33,140/- to Rs. 3,78,434/- along with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till realization.

Respondent No. 1 is directed to deposit the enhanced amount along with interest with the learned Tribunal within 30 days.

On such deposit being made, the learned Tribunal is directed to release a sum of Rs. 50,000/- to appellant No. 1. The remaining amount be kept in fixed deposit in a nationalized bank for a period of five years on which periodical interest be paid to appellant No. 1 but no loan, advance or withdrawal be permitted without prior permission of the learned Tribunal.

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