Sanjay Kumar Agrawal son of Rameshwar Agrawal, R.N. Dutta Road v. Forbisganj, Araria
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Miscellaneous Appeal No.1004 of 2010 ====================================================== 1. Md. Islam Ansari son of Late Abdul Ansari 2. Bibi Shamima Khatoon wife of Md. Islam Ansari Both are residents of village at Mian Bazar, Chimni Bazar, P.S. Sadar Purnea, District-Purnea 1. Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Forbisganj Branch, Araria 2. Sanjay Kumar Agrawal son of Rameshwar Agrawal, R.N. Dutta Road, Versus Forbisganj, Araria 3. Lalesh Prasad Sah son of Jagdish Prasad Sah, of R.N. Dutta Road, .... .... Appellant/s Forbisganj, Araria .... .... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance: For the Appellant/s : Mr. Dhananjay Kumar For the Respondent/s : Mr. Barun Kumar Choudhary ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE JYOTI SARAN ORAL ORDER 10. 23-10-2013
Legal Reasoning
Heard Mr. Dhananjay Kumar, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants and Mr. Barun Kumar Choudhary, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Insurance Company. This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’) is directed against the judgment and award dated 16.09.2010 / 07.10.2010 passed by the 2nd Additional District Judge-cum-Motor Vehicles Accident Claim Tribunal, Purnea in Claim Case No. 78 of 2000, whereby the claim has been allowed. This appeal has been filed for enhancement of the compensation amount. Facts of the case are not in dispute and thus are not being Patna High Court MA No.1004 of 2010 (10) dt.23-10-2013 2 reproduced. Suffice it to say the claimants are the parents of the deceased who died in a motor vehicle accident. Whereas it is the specific case of the claimants that the deceased working as a Mistri was earning Rs. 2500/- per month and contributing towards the family, the tribunal in absence of any documentary evidence has relied upon the second schedule to the Act to compute the compensation with reference to the notional income given at paragraph-6 thereof. Mr. Kumar, learned counsel for the appellant has questioned this computation to submit that the notional income is for non-earning victims and since it is the specific case of the claimants that the deceased was working as a Mistri, the reliance upon the second schedule is not correct. He further submits that the grant of interest from the date of order is also not in consonance with the provisions of Section 171 of the Act. The arguments of Mr. Kumar has been contested by Mr. Barun Kumar Choudhary appearing for the Insurance Company to submit that in absence of any documentary evidence, the computation by the tribunal cannot be faulted with. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and I have perused the materials on record. It is not a case of no evidence rather Exhibit-1 led by the claimants is a certificate of the Patna High Court MA No.1004 of 2010 (10) dt.23-10-2013 3 Proprietor, namely, Milan Auto Centre who has supported the monthly salary of the deceased at Rs. 2500/- per month. The said certificate is on a letter head and has not been proved to be a forged document rather the evidence of the plaintiff witness no. 4 who is a salesman of motor parts as well as the evidence of plaintiff witness no. 5 who was a labour in the same garage do support the statement of the claimants regarding the engagement of their son as a Mistri in the said garage. Whereas it has been stated by plaintiff witness no. 4 Md. Kalim that during the course of sale he did find the deceased Chunna Miyan working in the garage, the plaintiff witness no. 5 Md. Islam Ansari who claims to have worked in the same garage also supports this fact. Thus in view of Exhibit-1 and the oral evidence of the plaintiff witness nos. 4 and 5, the statement regarding the deceased working in the motor garage finds support and in the circumstances there was no occasion for the tribunal to have relied upon paragraph-6 of the second schedule which is relatable to such of the victims who had no income prior to the accident. Even otherwise considering the minimum wage payable to an unskilled labour at the time of the occurrence in the year 2000, the statement of the claimants that the deceased was earning Rs. 2500/- per month is acceptable. In the circumstances, the notional annual income of Rs. 15,000/- Patna High Court MA No.1004 of 2010 (10) dt.23-10-2013 4 fixed by the tribunal cannot be upheld and is set aside. The compensation thus has to be calculated afresh on the basis of the monthly income of the deceased of Rs. 2500/-. The annual income of the deceased on a monthly income of Rs. 2500/- would be 2500 x 12=30,000/-. Deducting 50 per cent therefrom by way of personal living expenses of the deceased in terms of the judgment of Sarla Verma reported in (2009)6 SCC 121, the contribution towards the family would be 15,000/- per annum. Since the age of the mother is between 46-50 years, the multiplier has been correctly applied at 13 and thus the loss of dependency would be 15000 x 13= 1,95,000/-. A sum of Rs. 2000/- has been allowed by way of funeral expenses but there has been no addition towards loss of estate and thus the appellants would be entitled to a sum of Rs. 2500/- towards loss of estate. Thus the total compensation payable to the appellants would be Rs. 1,95,000 + 2000 + 2500= Rs. 1,99,500/-. Since an amount of Rs. 50,000/- has already been paid to the claimants by way of interim compensation, the balance amount i.e. Rs. 1,99,500– 50,000= 1,49,500/- is payable to the claimants together with interest @ 9 per cent to be calculated from the date of filing of the claim case i.e. 06.12.2000 till the date of realization. The appeal is allowed. The judgment and award impugned Patna High Court MA No.1004 of 2010 (10) dt.23-10-2013 5 stands modified to the aforementioned extent. Let the lower court records received in connection with Claim Case No. 78 of 2000 be remitted to the court of learned 2nd Additional District Judge-cum-Motor Vehicles Accident Claim Tribunal, Purnea forthwith. S.Sb/- (Jyoti Saran, J)