Rajasthan High Court - Jaipur
Smt Roshan Bai And Anr vs Kalu Lal And Ors on 7 March, 2019
Author: Prakash Gupta
Bench: Prakash Gupta
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
BENCH AT JAIPUR
S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 4276/2009
1. Roshan Bai W/o Late Shri Ramlal By Caste Meena, R/o
Gordhanpura, Tehsil And District Bundi Raj.
2. Smt. Kalibai D/o. Late Shri Ramlal Meena, W/o. Todulal,
R/o Gordhanpura, Tehsil And District Bundi Raj.
3. Dhanraj S/o. Ramlal, By Caste Meena, Minor Through
Natural Guardian Roshanbai, R/o Gordhanpura, Tehsil And
District Bundi Raj.
4. Anita D/o. Ramlal, By Caste Meena, Minor Through
Natural Guardian Roshanbai, R/o Gordhanpura, Tehsil And
District Bundi Raj.
5. Pinky D/o. Ramlal, By Caste Meena, Minor Through
Natural Guardian Roshanbai, R/o Gordhanpura, Tehsil And
District Bundi Raj.
----Appellants
Versus
1. Kalulal S/o Bhawana, By Caste Meena, R/o Village Sathur,
P.s. Hindoli, Distt. Bundi Raj. Owner And Driver Of Vehicle
No. Rst-5409
2. The New Insurance Company Ltd. Through Manager,
Divisional Office, Jhalawar Road, Kota. Insurance
Company Of Vehicle No. Rst-5409
----Respondents
For Appellant(s) : Mr. Rohit Khandelwal
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Pritam Bijlani
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRAKASH GUPTA
Judgment / Order
07/03/2019
This appeal for enhancement of compensation is
directed against the judgment and award dated 12.02.2009
passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bundi (for short
'the tribunal'), whereby, the tribunal awarded a sum of
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(2 of 3) [CMA-4276/2009]
Rs.2,83,000/- as compensation along with interest @ 7.5% per
annum from the date of filing of the claim petition.
Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that
the tribunal committed an error in awarding lesser compensation.
The tribunal has erred in not awarding any amount towards future
prospects of the deceased. The tribunal has also erred in
deducting 1/3 instead of 1/4 of the income towards personal
expenses of the deceased.
On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent
No.2-insurance company has opposed the appeal and submitted that the tribunal has erred in taking the income of the deceased as Rs.2,000/- per month. At the relevant time, rate of minimum wages fixed by the State Government was Rs.1,898/- per month only. Therefore, the income of the deceased should have been assessed as Rs.1,898/- per month.
I have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the material available on record.
The claim-petition was filed by the appellants praying for compensation on account of death of Ramlal in a motor vehicle accident which occurred on 11.10.2005. The tribunal assessed the income of the deceased as Rs.2,000/- per month. However, at the relevant time, prevalent rate of minimum wages fixed by the State Government was Rs.1,898/-. Thus, the income of the deceased is assessed as Rs.1,898/- per month i.e. Rs.22,776/- per annum. As the deceased was aged 35 years at the time of accident, therefore, in view of the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court passed in National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Pranay Sethi & (Downloaded on 30/06/2019 at 01:45:27 AM) (3 of 3) [CMA-4276/2009] Ors., reported in AIR 2017 SC 5157, an addition of 40% is to be added towards future prospect of the deceased, which comes to Rs.9,110/-. Thus, the monthly income of the deceased comes to Rs.31,886/-(22,776+9110). Keeping in view the number of the dependents i.e. four, one fourth (1/4) of the said income is to be deducted towards personal expenses of the deceased. As the age of the deceased was 35 years, multiplier of 16 would be applied to work out the dependency of the appellants. In this way, the amount of compensation comes to Rs.3,82,632/- (31886x3/4x16). The claimants would be entitled to receive Rs.70,000/- towards conventional heads. Thus, the total amount of compensation receivable by the claimants comes to Rs.4,52,632/-(382632+ 70000).
Accordingly, this appeal is partly allowed. Impugned award dated 12.02.2009 is modified to the extent that the compensation amount receivable by the claimants is Rs.4,52,632/- instead of Rs.2,83,000/- as awarded by the Tribunal. Remaining terms and conditions of the award shall be the same. The Insurance Company shall deposit the enhanced amount along with the interest @ 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till date of payment with the Tribunal within a period of two months from today. It is ordered that the share of the enhanced amount of the compensation shall be invested in fixed deposit with a nationalised bank for a period of 2 years and the interest accrued thereon shall be paid to the claimants on monthly basis.
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