Research › Search › Judgment

Punjab High Court · body

2012 DIGILAW 826 (PNJ)

SURTI GUPTA v. GURDEV SINGH

2012-07-02

K.KANNAN

body2012
JUDGMENT : K. KANNAN, J. 1. The petition for compensation at the instance of the appellant as a minor was dismissed on the ground that the adoption, that she pleaded in support of her status as a lawful heir to the deceased, could not be true, since the adoption deed did not contain any recital as to the reasons for the adoption. The Tribunal, while dismissing also observed that the adoption was alleged to have taken place when the petitioner was less than 5 years of age, but the deed of adoption had been brought about only 8 years after the adoption. The appeal is filed contending that the deceased was a spinster and the appellant had been adopted by the necessary religious ceremonies and "given in" adoption by the biological/natural parents through S.R. Aggarwal and Smt. Suraksha Gupta. The deed of adoption, which was registered subsequently, was actually executed by the biological parents of the appellant as co-executants with the deceased and witnessed by two persons. The appellant would also contend that she had obtained a succession certificate and all the terminal benefits arising out of the death of her adoptive mother had been given to her by the employer of the deceased. The learned counsel for the Insurance Company supports the reasoning of the Tribunal and states that the adoption deed itself did not bring about the adoption and there was no reason for not registering adoption immediately if it was true. The fact, that the document was executed nearly 8 years after the alleged adoption, according to him, proved that the document could not be relied on for finding the validity of the alleged adoption. 2. I have gone through the recitals of the registered adoption deed. The document records the fact of adoption as having been given to her by the adoptive parent as per the ceremonies and also records the fact that ever since the said adoption, the appellant has been residing with the deceased and perceived by all the members of the public as her own child. This document is not merely an unilateral declaration by the deceased but the biological parents have actually joined as co-executants and stood by the assertions of the deceased through the document. This document is not merely an unilateral declaration by the deceased but the biological parents have actually joined as co-executants and stood by the assertions of the deceased through the document. The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act provides for two modes of securing a valid adoption: one, adoption through a registered instrument and two, by the customary mode, however both requiring the act of giving by the parents or guardian in favour of the adoptive parent. The other conditions of valid adoption, which are set out in the Act, are not necessary to be stated here. Adoption through a registered instrument is only one of the modes of adoption and it is not compulsory. If the registered instrument itself brings out the fact of adoption as having been taken and the natural biological parents have also joined in the instrument, there cannot be any doubt about the factum of adoption itself. This document must be seen in the context of the evidence given on the side of the appellant, namely, the fact that she had claimed as a beneficiary for all the terminal benefits and what was accrued to the estate of the deceased from the employer. She had also produced a succession certificate, though in this case succession certificate itself may not be necessary. 3. The law that provides for compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act does not even require the heirship to be proved. The expression used u/s 166 is a claim by the legal representative. This wider expression would admit of even a person such as the appellant, who has claimed that she was dependent on the deceased and that she was being supported by the deceased through her life time. Consequently, the appeal could not have been dismissed and the appellant's claim to her status as a legal representative of the deceased ought to have been admitted. 4. At the time of death, the deceased was said to have been working as a teacher, drawing a salary of Rs. 4,214/-. She was 45 years of age and as per the formula prescribed in the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, (2009-3) 155 P.L.R. 22 (S.C.), the prospect of increase in salary must have been also duly provided for by escalating the salary by another 30%. The average salary must be Rs. She was 45 years of age and as per the formula prescribed in the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, (2009-3) 155 P.L.R. 22 (S.C.), the prospect of increase in salary must have been also duly provided for by escalating the salary by another 30%. The average salary must be Rs. 5,478/- and if 1/3rd deduction were to be made for the personal consumption of the deceased, the dependency for the appellant must be taken as Rs. 3,652/- per month. Providing for a multiplier of 14, the loss of dependency will be Rs. 6,13,536/-. To this sum shall be added the loss to estate, funeral expenses and loss of love and affection, all of which should, in my view, add to another Rs. 15,000/-. In all, the total amount of compensation that become payable, shall be Rs. 6,28,536/-, which I round off to Rs. 6,30,000/-. 5. This amount shall be paid by the insurer with interest at 6% from the date of petition till date of payment. The appeal is allowed to the above extent.