Punjab-Haryana High Court
Smt. Sarla Devi And Others vs Rajpal And Another on 30 January, 2014
Author: K. Kannan
Bench: K. Kannan
FAO No. 13 of 1999 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
FAO No. 13 of 1999 (O&M)
Date of decision: January 30, 2014
Smt. Sarla Devi and others
...Appellants
Versus
Rajpal and another
...Respondents
CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN
1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ?
2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ?
3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?
Present: Mr. AC Jain, Advocate
for the appellants.
Mr. Nitin Kumar, Advocate,
for the respondents.
K. KANNAN, J. (Oral)
The appeal is for enhancement of claim for compensation of `1.10 lakhs awarded to the widow and the sons of the deceased who was said to be aged 42 years on the date of accident on 15.5.1994. The case of the appellants was that the deceased was travelling in his own tractor HR 12-1752 and was proceeding towards his village Garhi Ballabh and a jugar (a mechanical mobile contraption) came from behind struck on the rear side of the tractor that resulted in the tractor turning turtle and the deceased falling into a ditch under the tractor and getting crushed. There was some inconsistent version at the time of trial of some witnesses saying that the jugar was coming from the opposite direction while the claimants version itself was that the jugar came from behind and struck the tractor that Singh Prem 2014.02.06 11:46 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court Chandigarh FAO No. 13 of 1999 2 resulted in the tractor capsizing. The court held that the accident could have been caused only by composite negligence of both vehicles and after assessing compensation at `2.20 lakhs, made a partial abatement of 50% for the negligence of the tractor driver and provided for compensation.
Under normal circumstances where there is composite negligence, the claimant should be entitled to the whole of the compensation against any tort feasor and leave it open to one of them to proceed for contribution from the other tort feasor. In this case such remedy will not be possible for the tractor belonged to the deceased himself and the right of contribution that could arise under normal condition would mean a contribution from the estate of the deceased itself and to that extent the compensation would require to be abated. I would, therefore, take the ultimate disposition of partial abatement of 50% as correct and proceed to assess the compensation in the manner laid down by the Supreme Court in Sarla Verma Versus Delhi Transport Corporation 2009 (6) SCC 121 and tabulate the entitlement as below:-
Fatal Accident Date f accident 15.5.1994 Age 42 Occupation Agriculturist 4000 per month Claimants: Widow, two minor children Heads of claim Tribunal High Court Sr. No. Amount (`) Amount (`) 1 Income 2000 p.m. 3000 2 Add, % of increase 4050 3 Deduction 1/3 4 Multiplicand 24000 5 Multiplier 12 14 6 Loss of dependence 2,16,000 3,36,000 7 Medical expenses 8 Loss of Consortium & 4000 20000 children Singh Prem 2014.02.06 11:46 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court Chandigarh FAO No. 13 of 1999 3 9 Loss to estate 2500 10 Funeral Expenses 5000 Total 2,20,000 3,63,500
I have provided in the manner of assessment a marginal increase of his average income at `3000/- and have applied multiplier of 14 and have also provided for loss of consortium and for loss of love and affection for the son. The total compensation amount so assessed comes to `3,63,500/- and making abatement to the extent of 50% the amount as payable against the respondent would be `1,81,750/- with interest at 7.5% from the date of the petition till the payment. The amount shall be distributed equally amongst all the claimants. The right of enforcement shall be available against the respondents jointly and severally.
The appeal is allowed on the above terms.
January 30, 2014 (K.KANNAN)
prem JUDGE
Singh Prem
2014.02.06 11:46
I attest to the accuracy and
integrity of this document
High Court Chandigarh
FAO No. 13 of 1999 4
Singh Prem
2014.02.06 11:46
I attest to the accuracy and
integrity of this document
High Court Chandigarh