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Judgment
N.K. Patil, J.—These two appeals by the claimant and the Insurer are arising out of the same judgment and award dated 27/10/2006 passed in MVC No. 5579/2005 by the XIII Additional Small Causes Judge and Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bangalore(SCCH-15), (for short ''Tribunal''). The Tribunal by its judgment and award, has awarded a sum of Rs. 15,74,000/- with interest at 6% p.a., from the date of petition till the date of deposit as against the claim made by the claimant for a sum of Rs. 40,00,000/-, on account of the injuries sustained by him in the road traffic accident.
In brief, the facts of the case are:
The claimant was aged about 24 years at the time of the accident, working as Junior Executive- employee relations at M/s. Infinite Computer Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., and drawing the salary of Rs. 12,000/- per month. He was hale and healthy prior to the accident. That at about 3.15 p.m., on 14.07.2005 when the claimant was riding his motor cycle on Varthur Main Road slowly and cautiously and when he came near Outpost Hotel, at that time, a Tempo bearing No. KA. 03.1468 came at high speed driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner and dashed against him from behind. Due to which, he sustained grievous injuries to his head and his motor cycle was badly damaged. Immediately, he was taken to Akshay Mallya Hospital, where, first aid treatment was given and then he was referred to Manipal Hospital, where he underwent surgery for head injury and took treatment as inpatient and outpatient. It is the further case of the claimant that, he has spent considerable amount towards medical expenses, conveyance and other incidental charges. On account of the injuries sustained by him in the said accident, he has suffered permanent disability, the Doctor has assessed the disability at 100% to the whole body and it is permanent in nature. Therefore, the claimant has filed the claim petition before the Tribunal u/s 166 of M.V. Act, claiming compensation owner and Insurer of the offending vehicle.
The said claim petition had come up for consideration before the Tribunal. The Tribunal, after hearing both sides and after assessing the oral and documentary evidence, has allowed the said claim petition in part and awarded a sum Rs. 15,74,000/- as compensation under different heads with interest at 6% p.a., from the date of petition till the date of deposit. Being aggrieved by the said judgment and award, the claimant has filed M.F.A. No. 7360/2007 contending that, the compensation awarded by the Tribunal under all the heads is inadequate and therefore, it requires enhancement and the Insurer has filed M.F.A. No. 8219/2007 contending that, the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is on higher side and it requires reduction.
We have heard learned Counsel appearing for the claimant and learned Counsel appearing for the Insurer in these appeals.
It is the submission of the learned Counsel for claimant Sri. Shripad V. Shastri, at the outset that, the Tribunal has erred in not awarding reasonable compensation towards injury, pain and sufferings, loss of amenities, discomforts and unhappiness, conveyance, nourishing food and attendant charges, loss of future income and in not awarding any compensation towards future medical expenses and towards loss of marriage prospects and therefore, it requires reconsideration having regard to the age, occupation, the nature of injuries sustained by the claimant and the percentage of disability suffered by him. Therefore, he submitted that the impugned judgment and award is liable to be modified.
As against this, learned Counsel appearing for the Insurer, inter-alia, submitted that, the Tribunal has assessed the income of the claimant at Rs. 12,000/-per month which is on higher side and that the compensation awarded by the Tribunal under different heads is excessive and is liable to be modified. Therefore, he submitted that the impugned judgment and award passed by the Tribunal is liable to be modified.
After hearing the learned Counsel for the claimant and Insurer and after perusal of the materials available on record, including the impugned judgment and award passed by the Tribunal, it emerges that, the occurrence of the accident and the resultant injuries sustained by the claimant are not in dispute. The Tribunal, after assessing the oral and documentary evidence and other materials available on record, has awarded a sum of Rs. 20,500/- towards medical expenses, Rs. 1,20,000/- towards loss of income during the period of treatment and Rs. 24,500/- towards loss of income of the claimant''s father during the period of treatment of the claimant, which is just and reasonable and therefore, interference by this Court is not called for.
However, the Tribunal has erred in not awarding reasonable compensation towards injury, pain and sufferings, towards conveyance, nourishing food and attendant charges, towards loss of amenities, discomforts and unhappiness, towards loss of future earnings due to disability and therefore, it needs to be modified. Further, the Tribunal has erred in not awarding any compensation towards loss of marriage prospects and towards future medical expenses and therefore, it needs to be awarded. Admittedly, it is not in dispute that, the claimant was aged about 24 years, working as Junior Executive-employee relations at M/s. Infinite Computer Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., and drawing the salary of Rs. 12,000/- per month. Further, the occurrence of the accident and the injuries sustained by the claimant are also not in dispute. After re-appreciation of the oral and documentary evidence, it emerges that, claimant has taken treatment as inpatient on three occasions, on different dates, totally, for 72 days, undergone surgeries and during the said period, he might have undergone pain and mental agony, spent considerable amount towards conveyance, nourishing food and attendant charges, on account of the injuries sustained by him, he has suffered permanent disability and Doctor has assessed the functional disability at 100% and at 50% to the whole body, which is permanent in nature, he has to suffer this disability through out his life. The Tribunal is justified in assessing the income of the claimant at Rs. 12,000/- per month and in assessing the disability at 50% to the whole body and we accept the same. The appropriate Multiplier applicable would be ''18'' since the claimant was aged about 24 years, in view of the law laid down by the Apex Court in Sarla Verma''s case reported in 2009 ACJ 1298 instead of "17" adopted by the Tribunal. Further, it could be seen that, on account of injuries sustained by the claimant, he has suffered permanent disability, it would affect his marriage prospects severely and through out his life he has to depend on others and he may require future treatment also. But all these aspects of the matter have not been considered or appreciated by the Tribunal while awarding compensation under these heads. Therefore, taking all these factors into consideration and in view of the well settled law laid down by the Apex Court and this Court in hosts of judgment, we award Rs. 1,50,000/- towards injury, pain and sufferings instead of Rs. 1,00,000/-, Rs. 40,000/-towards conveyance, nourishing food and attendant charges instead of Rs. 25,000/-, Rs. 12,96,000/- ( Rs. 12,000/- x 12 x 18 x 50/100) towards loss of future income instead of Rs. 12,24,000/-, Rs. 1,00,000/- towards loss of amenities, discomforts and unhappiness instead of Rs. 60,000/-, Rs. 1,00,000/- towards future medical expenses and Rs. 1,00,000/- towards loss of marriage prospects. In all, the claimant is entitled to the total compensation of Rs. 19,51,000/- instead of Rs. 15,74,000/- and the break up is as under:
Accordingly, the appeal filed by the claimant is allowed in part and the appeal filed by the Insurer is dismissed as devoid of merits. The impugned judgment and award passed by the Tribunal in MVC No. 5579/2005 is hereby modified, awarding compensation of Rs. 3,77,000/-with interest at 6% p.a., on Rs. 1,77,000/- from the date of petition till its realisation, in addition to the compensation awarded by the Tribunal.
The Insurer is directed to deposit the enhanced compensation of Rs. 3,77,000/- with interest at 6% p.a., (excluding the interest on Rs. 2,00,000/- awarded towards future medical expenses and towards loss of marriage prospects) from the date of petition till its realisation, within four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment and award.
Immediately on deposit by the Insurer, out of the enhanced compensation of Rs. 3,77,000/-, a sum of Rs. 3,00,000/- with proportionate interest shall be invested in the Fixed Deposit in the name of the claimant, in any Nationalised or Scheduled bank, for a period of ten years and renewable by another ten years, with liberty to him to withdraw the interest accrued on it, periodically. The remaining sum of Rs. 77,000/- with proportionate interest shall be released in favour of the claimant.
The amount deposited by the Insurer shall be transmitted to the jurisdictional Tribunal immediately.
Draw the award, accordingly.