Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Poongavanam vs M/S Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. on 30 November, 2021
Bench: M.R. Shah, Sanjiv Khanna
1
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 7136 OF 2021
(Arising out of SLP (C) No. 14774 of 2021)
POONGAVANAM Appellant(s)
VERSUS
M/S RELIANCE GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. & ANR. Respondent(s)
O R D E R
Leave granted.
Though served, nobody appears on behalf of the respondent- Insurance Company. Heard Mr. G. Ananda Selvam, learned counsel appearing for the appellant.
Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras in C.M.A. No. 1918 of 2020 by which the High Court has allowed the said Appeal preferred by the respondent-Insurance Company and has reduced the amount of compensation awarded by the learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (for short ‘Tribunal’) from Rs. 9,80,150/- to Rs. 5,19,200/-, the original Claimant has preferred the present Appeal.
At the outset, it is required to be noted that looking to the injuries sustained by the Claimant and the permanent partial disability assessed by the Regional Medical Board, the learned Tribunal considered the functional disability at 90% and awarded Signature Not Verified the Digitally signed by R Natarajan Date: 2021.12.01 compensation for loss of earning capacity accordingly. 16:35:15 IST Reason:
However, in an Appeal by the Insurance company, the High Court has reduced the functional disability from 90% to 30% and accordingly, 2 has reduced the amount of compensation under the head loss of earning capacity. Considering the fact that the Claimant was working as coolie and the injuries sustained by her, namely, fracture of left leg, right hand crush injury and multiple injuries all over the body and considering the medical report of the Regional Medical Board, the High Court has committed a grave error in reducing the functional disability from 90% to 30%. Therefore, we restore the judgment and order passed by the learned Tribunal so far as awarding the future economic loss considering the functional disability at 90%. Therefore, the Claimant shall be entitled to a sum of Rs.8,42,400/- towards loss of earning capacity.
Under the circumstances, the judgment and award passed by the learned Tribunal is required to be restored. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, the present Appeal succeeds. The impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court reducing the amount of compensation from Rs.9,80,150/- to Rs.5,19,200/- is hereby quashed and set aside and we restore the judgment and award passed by the learned MACT determining/awarding the compensation at Rs.9,20,150/- with the interest as awarded by the learned Tribunal.
The present Appeal is allowed accordingly. In the facts and circumstances, there shall be no order as to costs.
.......................... J.
(M.R. SHAH) .......................... J.
(SANJIV KHANNA) New Delhi;
November 30, 2021.3
ITEM NO.1 COURT NO.13 SECTION XII
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Special Leave Petition (C) No(s). 14774/2021 POONGAVANAM Petitioner(s) VERSUS M/S RELIANCE GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. & ANR. Respondent(s) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.119025/2021-EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.) Date : 30-11-2021 This matter was called on for hearing today. CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.R. SHAH HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJIV KHANNA For Appellant(s) Mr. G. Ananda Selvam, Adv.
Mr. Mayilsamy K., Adv.
Mr. A. Santha Kumaran, Adv. Ms. Lakshmi Ramamurthy, AOR For Respondent(s) UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R Leave granted.
The present Appeal is allowed in terms of the signed order. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
(R. NATARAJAN) (NISHA TRIPATHI)
ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS BRANCH OFFICER
(Signed order is placed on the file)