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2009 DIGILAW 1657 (RAJ)

United India InsuCo. v. Ramdas Madane

2009-07-21

RAJEEV GUPTA, SUNIL KUMAR SINHA

body2009
Hon'ble SINHA, J.—Being aggrieved with the award dated 6th January 2005, passed in Claim Case No.55/2004, by the First Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Durg (C.G.), the appellant/Insurance Company has filed this appeal. 2. The facts, briefly stated, are as under:- The claimants are the parents of deceased Piyush Bharadwaj, who died in the motor accident on 30.03.2003, when his motorcycle bearing registration No.C.G.10-Z-E/6800 was dashed by the offending truck bearing registration No.MH-12/7073. The claimants pleaded that the accident occurred on account of rash and negligent driving of the offending truck by its driver, therefore, the driver, owner and the Insurer of the offending truck were liable to pay compensation. They further pleaded that their son Piyush Bharadwaj was a Master Degree holder from Pune University and was earning Rs,.8,200/- per month. On their own calculations, they claimed compensation of Rs.19,10,000/- for the death of their son in the motor accident. The owner and the driver of the truck remained ex-parte, whereas the Insurance Company filed its written statement. In addition to the usual denial, the Insurance Company pleaded that the accident occurred on account of rash and negligent driving of the motorcycle, therefore, the Insurer was not liable to pay compensation. The insurance Company was also granted permission u/s 170 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The Claimants examined Siddhna (AW-1), Mahendra Prabhulal Trivedi (AW-2) and Devi Singh Bharadwaj (AW-3) in support of their Claim Petition, whereas, the Insurance Company did not examine any witness in rebuttal. The learned Claims Tribunal recorded findings that the accident occurred on account of rash and negligent driving of the offending truck by its driver and the Insurance Company was liable to pay compensation. The Tribunal further recorded a finding that the deceased was earning Rs.8,200/-per month. Relying on the evidence of father of the deceased Devi Singh Bharadwaj (AW-3), the Tribunal determined the monthly dependency of the parents as Rs.5500/- and annual dependency as Rs.66,000/-. By applying multiplier of 14 to the said annual dependency of Rs.66,000/-, the amount of compensation was worked out to Rs.9,24,000/-. By adding a further sum of Rs.20,000/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.9,44,000/- as compensation to the claimants on account of death of their son Piyush Bharadwaj in the motor accident. The Tribunal also awarded interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realization. By adding a further sum of Rs.20,000/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.9,44,000/- as compensation to the claimants on account of death of their son Piyush Bharadwaj in the motor accident. The Tribunal also awarded interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realization. 3. Mr. Sanjay S. Agarwal, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Insurance Company, has pressed this appeal on the grounds of multiplier applied by the Claims Tribunal and the rate of interest. He submitted that the claimants are the parents, therefore, the multiplier of 14 was on the higher side and the suitable multiplier be applied to work out just and proper compensation. He further submitted that the rate of interest should also be reduced. 4. On the other hand, Mr. Yashwant Singh Thakur, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondents 3 & 4, opposed these arguments and supported the award passed by the Claims Tribunal. 5. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties at length and have also perused the records of the claim case. 6. In the case of Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay vs. Laxman Iyer and Anr., (2003) 8 SCC 731 , the deceased was aged about 18 years and the parents were the claimants, aged about 47 years and 43 years respectively. The Apex Court said that it is not the age of the deceased alone but the age of the claimants as well which are to be the relevant factors, in case the parents or other dependants are claimants. The other factors which have to be taken into consideration are : (i) marital status of the deceased because possibility in reduction of contribution is a reality once a person gets married, (ii) separate income of the parents and their education, and (iii) loss of pecuniary benefits. It was also held that in the facts and circumstances, the multiplier of 15 adopted by the Tribunal and confirmed by the High Court was on the higher side. The Apex Court observed vide para 10 that considering the age of the claimant, the multiplier can never exceed 10 even by the most liberal standards. 7. In case on hand, admittedly, the claimants are the parents of the deceased Piyush Bharadwaj. The Apex Court observed vide para 10 that considering the age of the claimant, the multiplier can never exceed 10 even by the most liberal standards. 7. In case on hand, admittedly, the claimants are the parents of the deceased Piyush Bharadwaj. Claimant No.1 Smt. Saraswati Bharadwaj is the mother of the deceased and claimant No.2 Devi Singh Bharadwaj is the father of the deceased. Sarawati Bharadwaj has been shown to be aged about 53 years and Devi Singh Bharadwaj has been shown to be aged about 62 years. There is no dispute that deceased Piyush Bharadwaj was aged about 24 years on the date of the accident and he was unmarried. 8. In view of the above, the multiplier of 14, applied by the Tribunal, was certainly on the higher side and we do not affirm the same. In our considered view, the multiplier of 10 appears to be the appropriate multiplier, which the Tribunal ought to have applied for determining the amount of compensation to be awarded to the claimants. Therefore, we set aside the impugned award so far as it relates to the quantum of compensation and propose to recompute the amount of compensation by applying the multiplier of 10. 9. By applying multiplier of 10 to the annual dependency of Rs.66,000/-, the compensation works out to Rs.6,60,000/-. The amount of Rs.20,000/- awarded under other heads also appears to be excessive. We award a sum of Rs.10,000/- under the other permissible heads and thus, the total amount of compensation works out to Rs.6,70,000/-. The claimants are entitled to receive a sum of Rs.6,70,000/- as compensation on account of death of their son Piyush Bharadwaj in the motor accident. The rate of interest i.e., 9% per annum is also on the higher side. By setting aside the same, we award interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realization. 10. The appeal filed by the Insurance Company is allowed to the extent indicated above. 11. There shall be no order as to the cost(s).