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2019 DIGILAW 1942 (KAR)

Kavitha v. Veereshappa H.

2019-09-03

P.G.M.PATIL, S.N.SATYANARAYANA

body2019
JUDGMENT : P.G.M. Patil, J. The claimants in M.V.C.No.232 of 2015 on the file of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, XII, Ballari ('Tribunal' for short) have come up in this appeal. 2. It is the case of the claimants before the Tribunal that, on 16.01.2015 at about 1.30 p.m. Rangaswamy @ Guru Swamy S/o. Late Nagappa @ Naganna and two others were proceedings on the motorcycle bearing registration No.KA-34/EA-2788. Rangaswamy was riding the said motorcycle, slowly, cautiously and on proper side of the road, when they were proceeding near Petrol Bunk in Shanti Nagar, Ballari , one TATA ACE vehicle bearing registration No.KA-34/A-5631 came from the opposite direction in a rash and negligent manner and dashed to the motorcycle, due to which, Rangaswamy sustained sever injuries and succumbed to the injuries on the spot. Therefore, the wife and children and mother of the deceased- Rangaswamy filed the claim petition in M.V.C. No.232 of 2015 claiming compensation against the driver, owner and insurer of the of fending TATA ACE vehicle. 3. Similarly, the two other injured in the said accident also filed M.V.C.Nos.233 and 235 of 2015 and all the claim petitions were heard together before the Tribunal and disposed of by common Judgment. 4. In pursuance of notice, respondent Nos.1 to 3 appeared before the Tribunal. However, respondent No.3 alone filed written statement contending that all the claim petitions are not maintainable and that they have claimed highly excessive and exorbitant compensation. He has further contended that respondent No.1 was not having a valid and effective driving licence to ride the vehicle and therefore he sought for dismissal of the claim petitions. 5. On the basis of the pleadings of the parties, the Tribunal framed issues in all the petitions and in support of the claim petitions claimants have got examined five witnesses as P.W.1 to P.W.5 and got marked 28 documents as Ex.Ps.-1 to 28. The respondent No.3 has got examined two witnesses as R.W.1 and R.W.2 and got marked 5 five documents as Ex.Rs-1 to 5. 6. After hearing both the parties, Tribunal passed the impugned judgment awarding compensation of Rs.10,54,500/- to the claimants in M.V.C.No.232 of 2015 with interest at the rate of 7% per annum from the date of petition till the date of deposit. 7. The claimants being dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and award have filed this appeal seeking enhancement of the compensation. 8. 7. The claimants being dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and award have filed this appeal seeking enhancement of the compensation. 8. We have heard the learned counsels appearing for the parties and perused the records. 9. The Claimants have contended before the Tribunal that the deceased-Rangaswamy @ Guru Swamy was aged about 30 years and he was earning Rs.20,000/- per month by working as barber in his own shop at Ballari. However, the claimants have not produced any acceptable evidence to prove the income of the deceased. Therefore, the Tribunal has considered the notional income of the deceased at Rs.5,000/- per month and added 30% towards future prospects and applied multiplier 17 considering the age of the deceased as 30 years and awarded total compensation of Rs.10,54,500/-. When the appeal was heard we noticed that age of the deceased-Rangaswamy cannot be 30 years, since the first daughter of the deceased who is petitioner No.2 in the claim petition is shown as 13 years and second daughter is aged about 12 years and therefore the age of the deceased must have been much more than 30 years. The Tribunal has considered the age of the deceased as 30 years on the basis of the postmortem report, which is marked as Ex.P.7. 10. On going through the records, we noticed that the copy of driving licence of the deceased is produced, which is marked as Ex.P-15, wherein his date of birth is shown as 01.06.1978 and therefore as on the date of death he was aged about 37 years and therefore the appropriate multiplier applicable in this case is 15. In the absence of any material on record, the Tribunal has considered the notional income of deceased at Rs.5,000/- per month however, considering the age and occupation of the deceased and that the accident in question occurred on 16.01.2015 and also in view of the guidelines issued for settlement of the cases before the Lok- Adalath, it is just and necessary to consider the income of the deceased at Rs.8,000/- per month. 11. As per the Judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court passed in the case of National Insurance Company Limited v. Pranay Sethi and Others, (2017) AIR SC 5157 30% of the monthly income (Rs.8,000/-) is to be added towards future prospects which comes to Rs.2,400/-. 11. As per the Judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court passed in the case of National Insurance Company Limited v. Pranay Sethi and Others, (2017) AIR SC 5157 30% of the monthly income (Rs.8,000/-) is to be added towards future prospects which comes to Rs.2,400/-. Thus, the income of the deceased comes to Rs.10,400/- per month, out of which,1/4th has to be deducted towards his personal and living expenses, thereby the remaining income of the deceased comes to Rs.7,800/- per month and same has to be multiplied by 12 and 15. Therefore, the claimants are entitled for compensation (Rs.7,800/-X12X15 = Rs.14,04,000/-) of Rs.14,04,000/- towards loss of dependency. The claimants are also entitled to a sum of Rs.70,000/- under conventional heads. Claimant Nos.2 to 5 are minor children of the deceased, therefore a sum of Rs.2,00,000/- is awarded towards loss of love and affection to the said minors. Thus, they are entitled for total compensation of Rs.16,74,000/- as against Rs.10,54,500/- awarded by the Tribunal. Therefore, the appellant-claimants are entitled for enhanced compensation amount of Rs.6,19,500/- with interest at the rate of 7% per annum. Accordingly, we proceed to pass the following: ORDER The appeal is allowed in part. The appellant/claimants are awarded enhanced compensation of Rs.6,19,500/- in addition to the compensation awarded by the Tribunal in M.V.C.No.232 of 2015 on the file of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ballari along with interest at the rate of 7% from the date of petition till the date of deposit. The order as to apportionment, deposit and disbursement of the compensation amount shall be in terms of the order of the Tribunal.