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2013 DIGILAW 810 (PNJ)

Anil Kumar v. Sunil Kumar

2013-07-03

Vijender Singh Malik

body2013
JUDGMENT Mr. Vijender Singh Malik, J.:- The present appeal is brought by the claimant Anil Kumar for enhancement of compensation awarded to him by learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Bhiwani (for short ‘the Tribunal’) vide award dated 13.01.2011 in a sum of Rs.1,72,000 for the injuries he suffered in a vehicular accident that took place on 06.10.2009. Since enhancement is claimed on some minor aspects, there is no necessity to reproduce the facts in detail. 2. The petitioner suffered multiple injuries on his body and became unconscious at the spot. He was taken to PGIMS Rohtak but was admitted in Metro Hospital Hisar in unconscious position. 3. Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that he received two fractures in the lower jaw, fracture of first and second rib on the left side and fracture of right knee. According to him, he has been awarded a sum of Rs.1,72,000/- as compensation, out of which a sum of Rs.1,47,648/- alone is represented by the medical bills for the amounts spent during the treatment. According to him, besides the amount of Rs.1,47,648/-, learned Tribunal has awarded a sum of Rs.15,000/- as expenses on account of hospitalization, a sum of Rs.10,000/- for pain and suffering and a sum of Rs.2500/- on account of transportation. According to him, while computing the total compensation, learned Tribunal even failed to take into account the sum of Rs.2500/- awarded under the head of transportation. 4. Learned counsel for the appellant has further submitted that besides hospitalization for ten days, the appellant suffered four fractures and a sum of Rs.10,000/- has been awarded compensation for pain and suffering. According to him though there is no head like hospitalization for awarding compensation, yet the compensation could be awarded for loss of income during treatment, for transportation, special diet and attendant charges. He has further submitted that suitable enhancement as compensation be made. 5. Learned counsel for respondent no.3, on the other hand, has submitted that hospitalization can count for allowances on special diet, attendant charges etc. According to her, adequate amount has been awarded to the claimant as compensation and no further enhancement is admissible. 6. A sum of Rs.1,47,648/- was the total of the amount of the bills and while awarding compensation in this regard, learned Tribunal has taken into account a sum of Rs.1,47,000/- as compensation. According to her, adequate amount has been awarded to the claimant as compensation and no further enhancement is admissible. 6. A sum of Rs.1,47,648/- was the total of the amount of the bills and while awarding compensation in this regard, learned Tribunal has taken into account a sum of Rs.1,47,000/- as compensation. In my opinion, there was no reason for not allowing Rs.648/- which was proved as spent in the treatment. If learned Tribunal was to come to a round figure, it should have gone up. When there are expenses in a sum of Rs.1,47,648/- by way of bills, some expenses must have been there without obtaining bills. In these circumstances, I take the expenses of the appellant on his treatment at Rs.1,50,000/- and allow this amount as compensation. Apart from it, the fact that the appellant had four fractures cannot be ignored. He remained hospitalized for ten days and the fractures would have caused pain even thereafter. In these circumstances, I find that a sum of Rs.20,000/- would at least be necessary to compensate the appellant for pain and suffering. Taking into account the number of days spent by the appellant in the hospital and the nature and number of injuries, I find that a sum of Rs.30,000/- would be adequate compensation to the appellant for attendant charges, transportation charges and expenses on special diet. 7. In this way, the appellant is found entitled to Rs.2,00,000/- as compensation. Consequently, the appeal is allowed and the amount of compensation awarded by learned Tribunal is enhanced from Rs.1,72,000/- to Rs.2,00,000/-, which would be payable to the appellant with interest as per the terms of the award. ---------0.B.S.0------------ ------------------