(Prayer: Civil Miscellaneous Appeal filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, against the judgment dated 27.12.2007 made in MCOP No.401 of 2005 on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court IV, Poonamallee.)
1. This appeal has been filed against the award passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court IV, Poonamallee, dated 27.12.2007 in M.C.O.P.No.401 of 2005 wherein the claimants are seeking enhancement of compensation.
2. The first claimant is the wife and the claimants 2 to 4 are daughters of the deceased Velvendhan. The case of the claimants is that on 14.10.2000, the deceased was riding a two wheeler at GST road and at about 21.30 hours, the offending vehicle, a tipper lorry, came in a rash and negligent manner and dashed against the two wheeler, as a result of which the deceased was thrown out of the vehicle and succumbed to the injuries. A First Information Report came to be registered against the driver of the offending vehicle in Crime No.737 of 2000. It is under these circumstances, the claim petition came to be filed before the Tribunal.
3. The Tribunal, on considering the facts and circumstances of the case and on appreciation of oral and documentary evidence, came to a conclusion that the accident had taken place due to the rash and negligent driving on the part of the driver of the offending vehicle. Having rendered the above finding, the Tribunal proceeded to determine the compensation amount in the following manner:
| Sl. No. | Compensation awarded under the head | Amount (in Rs.) |
| 1. | Loss of expectation | 7,92,000/- |
| 2. | Funeral expenses | 5,000/- |
| 3. | Medical and ambulance transport | 2,83,000/- |
| 4. | Loss of consortium | 10,000/- |
| 5. | Loss of love and affection | 10,000/- |
| Total | 11,00,000/- |
4. Heard learned counsel for appellants and learned counsel for second respondent insurance company. This Court also considered the materials available on record and carefully went through the award passed by the Tribunal.
5. The bone of contention is regarding monthly income fixed by the Tribunal while calculating the compensation under the head ‘loss of income/dependency’. It is contended that on the side of the appellants that as per Exs.P10 and P11, the Tribunal ought to have fixed the monthly income at Rs.15,000/- whereas the Tribunal had fixed only a sum of Rs.9,000/-, which is on the lower side. It is further submitted that the deceased had not completed 50 years, however, the Tribunal had fixed multiplier ‘11’ instead of multiplier ‘13’. The further ground raised is that the Tribunal did not add future prospects while calculating compensation under the head ‘loss of income’.
6. This Court carefully went through Exs.P10 and P11. It is seen that even as per the income-tax returns, the gross income is shown as Rs.1,08,863/- for the income-tax returns filed for the Assessment Year 1999-2000. In such an event, the monthly income will only be Rs.9,000/- and hence, the Tribunal had rightly fixed the monthly income.
7. On going through the records, it is seen that the deceased at the time of demise was only 49 years 9 months and 8 days. Hence, the Tribunal ought to have applied multiplier ‘13’, instead, multiplier ‘11’ has been applied. The Tribunal had also not added future prospects. Considering the age of the deceased 25% has to be added towards future prospects. It is seen that there are totally four claimants and the Tribunal had deducted 1/3 towards personal expenses instead of 1/4.
8. In view of the above, the compensation under the head ‘loss of income/dependency’ is calculated as follows:
| Monthly Income | : | Rs. 9,000/- |
| Add: 25% future prospects | : | Rs. 2,250/- |
| ---------------- | ||
| Rs. 11,250/- | ||
| Less: Personal expenses (1/4) | : | Rs. 2,813/- |
| ----------------- | ||
| Rs. 8,437/- | ||
| x 12 | ||
| ----------------- | ||
| Annual income | : | Rs. 1,01,244/- |
| Multiplier | : | x 13 |
| ----------------- | ||
| Loss of dependency | : | Rs.13,16,172/- |
| ----------------- |
10. The compensation awarded under the other heads are just and reasonable and do not require the interference of this Court.
11. In the light of the above discussion, this Court modifies the compensation in the following manner:
| Sl.No. | Compensation awarded under the head | Amount by the Tribunal (in Rs.) | Amount awarded by this Court (in Rs.) |
| 1. | Loss of expectation | 7,92,000/- | 13,16,172/- |
| 2. | Funeral expenses | 5,000/- | 5,000/- |
| 3. | Medical and ambulance transport | 2,83,000/- | 2,83,000/- |
| 4. | Loss of consortium | 10,000/- | 40,000/- |
| 5. | Loss of love and affection | 10,000/- | - |
| 6. | Loss of estate | - | 5,000/- |
| 7. | Transport charges | - | 5,000/- |
| Total | 11,00,000/- | 16,54,172/- |
In the result, the Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is partly allowed. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.