Suraj Mal Kumawat And Others vs Ramesh Kumar And Others

Anoop Kumar Dhand, J

The present civil misc. appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been preferred by the appellants-claimants aggrieved with the judgment and award dated 28.02.2000 passed by the Court of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jaipur and Rajasthan State Co-operative Tribunal, Jaipur (for short ‘the Tribunal’) in Motor Accident Claim Case No. 298/94, whereby an amount of Rs. 2,21,000/- has been awarded by way of compensation on account of death of Trilok Chand in an accident which occurred on 16.01.1994.

The Tribunal after framing the issues, evaluating the evidence available on record and hearing counsel for the parties, decided the claim petition of the appellants-claimants awarding compensation to the tune of Rs.2,21,000/- under various heads in favour of the appellants-claimants.

Learned counsel appearing for the appellants-claimants submits that no amount towards future prospects has been awarded and no amount has been awarded under the conventional heads in the light of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi & Ors. : (2017) 16 SCC 680. Counsel for the appellants further prays that re-computation of the award in the present case may be done in the light of the judgment of Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Pranay Sethi (supra).

Per Contra, learned counsel appearing for the respondent-Insurance Company submits that while deciding the claim petition of the appellants-claimants, the Tribunal has correctly taken into consideration the factors while calculating the award in this case on the anvil of evidence produced before it. Thus the judgment dated 28.02.2000 does not call for any interference of this Court.

Learned counsel, however, is not in a position to controvert the submissions made by the counsel for the appellants-claimants with respect to re-computation of the award in the present case in the light of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Pranay Sethi (supra).

I have considered the submissions made at the Bar and gone through the judgment dated 28.02.2000 as well as the relevant documents available on the record.

Admittedly, the deceased Trilok Chand died at the age of 26 years, but not a single penny under the head of future prospects has been awarded to the claimants appellants and under the conventional head only a petty amount of Rs. 5,000/- has been awarded.

Thus, the award is re-computed as under:-

Monthly income

Rs. 1,000/-

Annual income

Rs. 1,000 x12 = Rs.12,000/- per annum

Multiplier to be applied

18

12,000 x 18 = Rs.2,16,000/-

Add 40 per cent towards future prospects

Rs.2,16,000 + Rs. 86,400

= Rs. 3,02,400/-

Add loss of estate

Rs. 15,000/-

Add funeral expenses

Rs. 15,000/-

Add towards loss of consortium

Rs. 40,000/-

Total compensation awardable

Rs. 3,02,400+70,000 =Rs. 3,72,400/-

Less amount awarded by the Tribunal

Rs. 3,72,400 – Rs.2,21,000 = Rs.1,51,400/-

Enhanced amount of compensation

Rs. 1,51,400/-

Thus, an amount of Rs. 1,51,400/- is enhanced in the present case and the respondent- Insurance Company is directed to pay a further amount of Rs. 1,51,400/- in addition to the amount already awarded by the Tribunal vide its judgment dated 28.02.2000 within a period of six weeks from today. The enhanced amount shall carry interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing the claim petition till the actual payment is made.

The appeal stands disposed of in above terms.

All pending application(s), if any, also stand disposed of.

Registry is directed to send back the record of the Tribunal forthwith.