Dinesh Mehta v. All

Mr. Akhil Kumar Sah, the learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the Tribunal has erred in awarding low compensation of Rs. 55,000/- only though the claimant suffered multiple serious injuries including fractures of radius and ulna bones of his right hand and of left pelvic bone; and in not awarding any interest on the amount of compensation and in directing only a conditional payment of interest in the event of failure of the Insurance Company to pay the amount of compensation to the claimant within a period of one month from the date of the Award.

Mr. Prabhat Pandey, the learned counsel for the owner of the Jeep and Mr. D.S. Patni, the learned counsel for the insurer of the Jeep, on the other hand, supported the Award and submitted that the Tribunal has been quite liberal in awarding substantial amount of Rs. 55,000/- as compensation to the claimant though he did not suffer any permanent disability on account of the injuries sustained by him in the accident.

The findings recorded by the Tribunal that claimant Dinesh Mehta sustained injuries in the motor accident on 30.11.2000; the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the driver of the Jeep; and the insurer of the Jeep was liable to pay compensation to the claimant have, now attained finality as the respondents have not filed any appeal against the Award.

Claimant Dinesh Mehta was aged about 30 years on the date of the accident. He was a practising Advocate. It has come on record that he suffered multiple injuries in the accident including fractures of the bones of his right hand and of his left pelvic bone. It is a matter of common knowledge that substantial amount is required to be spent on the treatment of fractures. His right hand must have remained under plaster for a period of about two months and during this period, he could not have attended his profession as an Advocate and must have suffered monetary loss. True, the claimant could not establish that the fractures sustained by him in the accident resulted in any permanent disability. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the claimant sustained fractures of the bones of his right hand and of pelvic bone and could not attend to his profession as an Advocate for a considerable period. The claimant produced bills and vouchers before the Tribunal in support of the amount spent on his treatment.

The amount of Rs. 55,000/- awarded by the Tribunal as compensation to the claimant, when examined in the context of the above-mentioned broad features of the case, in our opinion, is certainly on the lower side and deserves to be enhanced suitably. In our opinion, a lump sum of Rs. 80,000/- would be just and proper compensation to the claimant for the injuries sustained by him in the accident and towards the amount spent on treatment.

The Tribunal has fallen into error in not awarding any interest to the claimant. By directing only a conditional payment of interest in the event of insurer’s failure to pay the amount of compensation within a period of one month from the date of the Award, the Tribunal has deprived the claimant of the amount of interest, which was otherwise payable to him. To avoid any possible delay in the computation of the amount of interest by the Tribunal, we deem it proper to quantify the same ourselves. The accident in the present case took place on 30.11.2000. The claim petition was filed on

20.04.2001. The impugned Award was passed by the Tribunal on

24.06.2004 and the amount of Rs. 55,000/- awarded by the Tribunal was deposited by the Insurance Company on or before 24.07.2004. Considering the above-mentioned relevant factors, we quantify the amount of interest at Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only).

Thus, the claimant becomes entitled to receive a total sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only) [Rs. 80,000/- towards Compensation + Rs. 20,000/- towards Interest).

For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellant for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensation of Rs. 55,000/- (Rupees Fifty Five Thousand only) awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs. 80,000/- (Rupees Eighty Thousand only) with further quantified interest of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only) Second respondent National Insurance Company Ltd. is directed to deposit the enhanced amount of compensation and Rs. 20,000/- quantified as Interest within a period of two months from today before the concerning Claims Tribunal.

No order as to costs. (Rajesh Tandon, J.) (Rajeev Gupta, C.J.)

16.10.2006

16.10.2006 G