The High Court · 2025

: Sri T.Viswarupa Chary Counsel for the Respondent No.3 : N.MOHAN KRISHNA Counsel for the Respondent No.1to2 The Court made the following :JUDGMENT THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE P.SRET: SUDHA M.A.C.M.A.No.988 of 2()14 JUDGMENT: This appeal is filed against the Order datec 09.09.2009 in M.A.T.O. P.No .47 of 2OO8 passed by the iearrr,:d Chairman, Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal - cum Family 3ourt Judge - cum - Additional District Judge, Khammam.

2. Thr: petition ulde M.A.T.O.P.No.47 of 2OO8 r,,as hled by the appellants/petitioners claiming compensation of Rs.7,50,00O/- for the death of the deceased Polishetti Muraiikris;itna, who died in the motor vehicle accident occurred on 16.09.:2007. The trial Court g,lt examined P.Ws.1 ald 2 on b< half of the appellants / petitioners and got marked Exs.Al lc, A5 on their behalf and also marked Exs.B l-Insurance polic,r on behalf of the respondents. The trial Court after considering the oral and documenl:ary evidence on record, granted coropensation of Rs.4,52,O00/- along with interest @ T.S% per anrrum from the date of petition till realization. Aggrieved by the sa id Order, they preferred the present appea_l seeking enhancrr:rent of the compensation amount granted by the trial Court. 2

3. Parties hereina-fter referred to as petitioners and respondents as arrayed before the trial Court for the sake of convenlence

4. The brief facts of the case are that deceased was working as a lorry driver bearing No.AP 27 W 3519. On I4.O9.2OO7, the said iorry '.vas loaded with granite stones at Thandur and the deceased started driving the lorry and proceeding towards Visakhapatnam. On 16.09.2007 , when the lorry passed Khammam town and reached Pule Ambedkar Bhavan, the tyre of the lorry punctured, as such the deceased stopped the lorry on the extreme left side of the road and put on parking lights. When the cleaner was removing the tyre, deceased sat on the back side of the tyre. In the meantime, the driver of the Car bearing No.AP 20 Q 0585 drove it with high speed in a rash and negligent manner and dashed the deceased. As a result, the deceased sustained multiple injuries to his head and all over the body. When he was shifting to the hospital in ambulance, succumbed to injuries. The Police, Konijerla, registered a case in Crime No.92 of 2OO7 under Section 3O4-A of IPC, against the driver of the Car. ,:-c}jLa.!alrl '_/ !l 3

5. Hezrrd arguments of both sides and perused the entire evidence r)n record

6. As the present appeal is preferred onl7 against the quantum of compensation granted by the trial C,rurt, the issue regarding rash and negligence of the driver of the vehicle need not be gone into

7. The learned Counsel for the petitioners ccntended that deceased was aged about 3O years as on the dale of incident and he was a lorry driver by profession and earn.ng Rs.4,OOO/- per month besides getting Rs.10O/- towards batta, but the trial Court considering his income as oniy Rs.3,O00 /- per month, granted a meager amount of Rs.4,52,000/-. They further contende<l that the minimum wage of the LMV dri,rer as per the provisions; of the Minimum Wages Act is Rs-4,402 08 Ps, but the trial Court has considered only Rs.12Ol- per dzqz. Therefore, requested the Court to enhance the compensz.tion amount granted by the trial Court.

8. In rriew of the decision of the Hon'ble Ape;r Court in the case of Ramachand.rappa Vs. Manager, Rouel Sund.aram 4 Alliance Insurance Compang Limited,l considering age and occupation of the deceased, this Courts hnds that it is just and reasonable to consider the income of the deceased as Rs.4,500/- per month and thus the annual income of the deceased would comes to Rs.54,OOO/- (Rs.a,500/ - X 72 : Rs.s4,000/-).

9. As per the guideiines of the Hon'ble Apex Court in dictum of Sarlc Vertna Vs. Delhi Transltort Corporation,2 if the deceased was married, 1/3.4 of his income has to be deducted towards his personal expenses, as there are 2 dependents. Thus, the annual income of the deceased aJter deducting personal expenses would comes to Rs.36,0O0/- per annum (Rs.54,000 Rs.18,000= Rs.36,000/-) and the Hon'lcle Apex Court in the dictum of National Insurt:nce Cornpany Limited. Vs. Pranag Sethie , held that the future prospects of income of the self-employed shall also be included in determination of the compensation. Thus, considering the age of the deceased i.e., 30 years, 4Ooh of the income i.e., Rs.14,400/- has to be added towards future prospects and thus the amount would become Rs.5O,400/- (Rs.36,000/- + Rs.14,4OOl- = Rs.50,40Ol-). This '1zorr; n scc z:o ' lzooe; e scc tzr 1zo11 re scc eao 3 - '":3:FllL.r!r',/ 5 sum if mr-lltiplied with the multiplier 17 applicable' to the age of the deceased i.e., 30 years, it would come to JRs.8,56,80O/- (Rs.50,4O0 x 17 = Rs.8,56,800/-). Thus, petitioncls are entitled to Rs.8,5(1,800/- under the head 'Loss of Depende ncy'. 1O. Bes,ides, appellants/petitioners are alsc entitled for compenszrtion under 'conventional heads' as prescribed ln the dictum o1' National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Pranag Sethi, i.e., Rs.15,OO0/- towards loss of Estate ar<1 Rs.15,OOO/- towards funeral charges and Rs.4O,000/ to 1,r:titioner No.1 towards spousal consortium. Therefore, they ar: entitled for Rs.70,000/- under the 'Conventional heads'. 1 1. Further, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, by r:iterating the comprehe,nsive interpretation of 'consortium' 1;iven in the authority ol Magrna General Insura.nce Cotnparlq Limited as. Nrrltu Ratm Alio.s Chuhru Ro,m & other*, and in the authority between United Indiq. Insurqnce Compang Litnited as. Satinder Kaur @ Satwinder Kqur and othersl;, fortified that the amotrnts for loss of consortium shall be a,r'arded to the children who lose the care and protection of their parents as 'lzotsy ts s<;c t:o lzozo; e sc,: 6++ 5 6 'parental consortium' and to the parents as, 'filial consortium' for the loss of their grown-up children, to compensate their agony, love and affection, care and companionship of deceased children. Accordingly, it is just and reasonable to award Rs.4O,000/- to petitioner No.2 under 'Filial Consortium'

12. Therefore, petitioners/claimants are entitled for the compensation in the following terms: I 2 Loss of dependency Rs.8,56,800/- Conventional heads Filial Consortium Rs 70,OO0/- Rs.40,OO0/- TOTAL Rs.9,66,8OO/-

13. In the result, the present appeal is allowed by enhancing the compensation amount from Rs.4,52,0O0/- to Rs.9,66,800/- (Rupees Nine Lakhs Sixty Six Thousand Eight Hundred only) with interest at the rate of 7 .5%o per annum from the date of filing the petition til1 the date of realization. Though, Respondents No.l to 3 are jointly and severally liable to pay compensation, respondent No.3/Insurance Company is directed to deposit the entire amount within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this :3r4hir*flli*d +i 1'-: .a To, I 2 a l Judgment. Out of total compensation amourLt petitioner No.2/mother is entitled to Rs.2,OO,OOO t ar;d the petitioner No.1/wife is entitled for the balance amount. On such deposit, both the petitioners are l) 3rmitted to wittrdraw' the said amount along with interest accrued on it. Petitioners are also directed to pay the deftr:it Court fee on the enhanced amount. There shall be no order as to costs. Misceiianeous petitions pending, if any. shali stand closed. SD/. MOHD. ISMAIL t)EPUTY REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// sec&ft-orrrcen The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal cum Judge famih' Court cum Additional District Jrrdge, Khammam District' One CC to Sri T Viswarupa Chary' Advocate [OPUC] One CC to Sri N.Mohan Krishna Advocate IOPUCI Two CD tlopies (fr 4 SVS/gh i!\ 1 '"1" i;:: I , ...' ^?t ,t i \:' t' ::*-'-, , l: .'-, .,"i.. z--r,'1. 1-.r.!-,'. N6 :ii ;jl .1. " .' .:,,, ' ir, DFq;r . _:.:--::1.-r:: _ HIGH COURT DATED:2410112025 JUDGMENT + DECREE MACMA.No.988 ot 2014 ALLOWING THE MACMA (L ,A g Lf [ 3208 ] IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD FRIDAY, THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE P.SREE SUDHA MOTOR ACCIDENT CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL NO: 988 OF 2014 Between : ,1 2 Polishetti Pavani, Wo.Murali Krishna, Household, R/o.Palakollu Town, West Godavari District. Polishetti Subbayamma, Wo.Suryanarayana, Household, R/o. Palakollu Town, West Godavarr Drstrict. ...AppellanUPetitioners AND 4 5 6 Balamarthi Mohan Rao, S/o. Venkaiah, Car Driver, R/o.Khammam District L.Raghu, S/o.Rangaiah, Kalluru (V and M) Khammam District. The New lndia Assurance Co. Ltd., Rep by its Manager, D.No. 9-3-143, 1 Floor, Old Club Road, Near Vinoda Theatre, Khammam. ...Respondents/Respondents Appeal filed Under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act against the Judgment and decree in O.P.No.4712008, dated.09-09-2009 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal cum Judge family Court cum Additional District Judge, Khammam District This appeal coming on for hearing and upon perusing the grounds of appeal, the Judgment and Decree of the Lower Court and the material papers in the Case and upon hearing the arguments of Sri T.Viswarupa Chary Advocate for the Appeltant and N.Mohan Krishna, Advocate for the respondent No.3 This Court doth Order and Decree as follows : 'l . That the Motor Accident Civil Miscellaneous Appeal be and hereby is Allowed; 2. That by enhancing the compensation amount from Rs.4,52,000/- to Rs.9,66,800/-(Rupees Nine Lakhs Sixty Six Thousand Eight Hundred only) with interest at the rate of 7.5o/o per annum from the date of filing the petition till the date of realization; . . --:-F

3. That though, Respondents No.1 to 3 are joinfly and r;everally liable to pay compensation, respondent No.3/lnsurance Compa ny shall indemnify respondents 1 and 2 be and hereby is directed to del) )sit the entire amount within a period of one month from the date of rec3ipt of a copy of this Judgment;

4. That out of total compensation amount, petrtioner No.lllmother is entifled to Rs. 2,00,000/- and the petitioner No '1lwife is entifled- fo-the balance amount;

5. That on such deposit, both the petitioners are permitt€(l to withdraw the said amount along with interest accrued on it without furnish ng any security; 6. That Petitioners are also directed to pay the deficit cour fee on the enhanced amount of compensation;

7. That there shall be no order as to costs. //TRUE COPYII SD/- MOHD. ISMAIL I)EPUTY REGISTRAR SECTI FFICER

1. The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal cum Jucgte family Court cum 2. Two CD Copies Additional District Judge, Khammam District. lF To, SVS HIGH COURT DATED:2410112025 DECREE MACMA.No.988 ot 2014 ALLOWING THE MACMA ?+ ffiz.r