The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Suparo Devi and Others

1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may YES be allowed to see the Judgment?

2. To be referred to the Reporter or not? YES

3. Whether the judgment should be YES reported in the Digest? JUDGMENT (Oral)

1. The appellants have challenged the award of the learned Tribunal whereby compensation of Rs.4,16,772/has been awarded to the claimants/respondents No.1 to 4. Claimants/respondents No.1 to 4 have filed the crossobjections seeking enhancement of the award amount.

2. The accident dated 24th June, 2006 resulted in the death of Makar Chand. The deceased was survived by his widow and three sons, who filed the claim petition before the learned Tribunal.

3. The deceased was aged about 52 years of age at the 2010:DHC:618 was earning Rs.7,000/- per month. However, in the absence of any documentary evidence, the learned Tribunal took the minimum wages of Rs.3,271/- and after taking judicial notice of increase in minimum wages, took the income as Rs.4,906.50 [(Rs.3,271 + Rs.6,542)/2]. 1/3rd was deducted towards the personal expenses of the deceased and the multiplier of 11 was adopted to compute the loss of dependency at Rs.4,31,772/. The learned Tribunal has awarded Rs. 10,000/- towards funeral expenses and Rs. 25,000/- has been awarded towards loss of love and affection. Total compensation awarded is Rs.4,66,772/-.

4. The only ground urged by learned counsel for the appellant at the time of hearing of this appeal is that the owner of the offending vehicle did not have a valid permit and therefore the appellant is not liable to pay the compensation. The learned counsel submits that the award should be passed against the owner of the offending vehicle.

5. The learned counsel for the claimants/respondents has urged the following grounds at the time of hearing of this appeal:-

(i) The deduction towards the personal expenses of the deceased be reduced from 1/3rd to 1/4th.

(ii) The compensation be awarded for loss of consortium.

(Iii) The compensation be awarded for loss of estate.

5. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that the appellant issued a notice Ex.R3W1/A to the owner of the offending vehicle to produce the permit No.SC/3000/Ex./ 0069/92, but the owner failed to produce the permit. The appellant, therefore, appointed an investigator Mr. M.S. Bisht, to verify the permit particulars of the offending vehicle, who submitted his report Ex.R3W1/C. As per the verification report Ex.R3W1/C, there was a valid permit bearing No.SC/3000/Ex./0069/92, in respect of the vehicle but the said permit was in the name of the Dharamvir Singh Yadav and not in the name of the insured.

6. The learned counsel submits that there is a violation of the policy terms and conditions because the permit was not in the name of the owner of offending vehicle. Since there was a valid permit in respect of offending vehicle at the time of accident, there is no violation of the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. In any view of the matter, the irregularity in the name of the permit holder would make out a case of recovery rights which have been granted to the appellant. The learned Tribunal has granted recovery rights to the appellant to recover the award amount after making the payment to the claimants. There is no challenge of this finding by the claimants in this appeal and, therefore, the finding of the learned Tribunal in this regard does not call any interference.

7. With respect to the quantum of compensation awarded to the claimants, it is noted that the deceased was survived by his widow and three sons and, therefore, the appropriate deduction towards the personal expenses of the deceased according to the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009 (6) Scale 129 is 1/4th. Following the aforesaid judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the personal expenses are reduced from 1/3rd to 1/4th.

8. The learned Tribunal has not awarded any compensation towards loss of consortium and loss of estate. However, compensation of Rs.25,000/- towards loss of love and affection is on higher side and it shall be treated to include compensation towards loss of consortium and loss of estate and no further amount is awarded under these two heads. The claimants are entitled to total compensation of Rs.5,20,743/- [(4906.50 x 3/4 x 12 x 11) + 10,000 + 25,000].