Allowances must be included in salary calculations for compensation assessments to reflect true earning potential and future income prospects.

ORDER

1. Delay condoned.

2. Leave granted.

3. This appeal arises from the judgment dated 2nd August, 2017 rendered by the learned Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka, Kalaburagi Bench in M.F.A. No. 200311/2016 (MV) whereby, while partly accepting the appeal preferred by the respondent No. 1- Insurance Company¹[Respondent no. 2 was deleted vide order dated 28th August, 2023 by the Hon’ble Judge-in-Chamber], the High Court reduced the compensation awarded to the claimant i.e., Appellant herein vide award dated 25th November, 2015 passed by the Principal Senior Civil Judge and MACT²[hereinafter being referred to as ‘The Accident Claims Tribunal’] at Kalaburagi in a claim petition³[MVC No. 887 of 2013] filed by the appellant herein. The Accident Claims Tribunal had awarded compensation to the tune of Rs. 1,04,01,000/- with interest @ 6% per annum to the claimant i.e., the appellant herein being the mother of Shri Suryakanth who expired in a road accident on 29th August, 2013. The Accident Claims Tribunal, assessed and quantified the compensation in the following manner:-

“16. Loss of Dependency: The petitioner is the mother of deceased Suryakanth. Admittedly, the age of the deceased is shown as 26 years in the post mortem report as per Exh.P13, that is taken into account. Regarding the income of the deceased, PW.1 has stated that the deceased Suryakanth was doing as service consultant and drawing monthly gross salary of Rs.56,935/- per month and to prove the said fact she has produced Exh.P15 to Exh.P25 which are appointment letter, Salary review letter, Salary certificates, certificate issued by CISCO, PAN Card, Diploma Certificate, Income Tax Returns and Form No.16 respectively, but as per Exh.P17 Salary Certificate which is of the August 2013 of the deceased which shows the total earning of the deceased is Rs. 50,942/-, so the said fact is taken into consideration for awarding compensation amount, because as per the income tax returns which are produced by the petitioner it is seen the deceased was PAN cardholder and he was paying income tax which shown that he was capable of earning the amount which is shown in the Exh.P17 and even though the deceased was working in a private limited Company, the said salary amount is to be considered because he is Diploma Certificate Holder and basing on his efficiency the Company was paying the said amount to him. So for salary of Rs. 50,942/- Professional Tax of Rs. 200/- is deducted which comes to Rs. 50,742/- per month. Therefore, in my opinion, it is feasible to consider the income of the deceased @ 50,742/- and annual income comes to Rs.6,08,904/-. As the deceased was unmarried person, 50% of the said amount is to be deducted, it comes to Rs.3,04,452/-. As per the recent decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court reported in 2015 (3) TAC.1 (SC) and case law reported in Sarla Varma and others V/s Delhi Transport Corporation and another and Rajesh and others, the deceased is also entitled for loss of future prospects at 50% of his income. So, if 50% of the said Income is added Rs.3,04,452/- It would be Rs.6,08,904/- (3,04,452 + 3,04,452) per annum. Regarding the age of the deceased, In the post mortem report as per Exh.P13 the age of the deceased is shown as 26 years. So, the same is taken into consideration for applying multiplier as per the case law reported in Sarla Verma and others V/s Delhi Transport Corporation and another is "17". The calculation of the total loss of dependency is as under: Rs.6,08,904 x 17 multiplier = Rs.1,03,51,368/-. The petitioner is entitled for loss of dependency Rs.1,03,51,368/-.

Therefore, the petitioner is entitled for total compensation under different heads as follows:

Therefore, the petitioner is e