ORDER

Time taken for disposal of the claim petition Time taken for disposal of appeal by the High Court Time taken for disposal of the appeal in this Court

8 years 3 months 7 months 12 months

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 16th August, 2023 in Misc. Appeal No.410 of 2023 passed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore, which, in turn, was preferred against the judgment and order dated 27th October, 2022 passed in Claim Case No.1100258 of 2014 by the 11th Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Tribunal, Indore.

3. The brief facts giving rise to this appeal are that on 23rd March, 2014, the offending vehicle bearing No.MP-09-CM-2227, while coming from the Gurudwara side, rashly and negligently dashed into the claimant-appellant, who was standing near the service lane of the road at ABMEG Colony, Indore, near Gurudwara. Upon collision, he was taken to Bombay Hospital, Indore, where he was treated from 24th March, 2014 to 28th March, 2014. As a result of the accident, the claimant-appellant sustained injuries on the right side of the body, due to which his right arm was completely mutilated, and his right leg was amputated above the knee, near the thigh.

4. In connection with this incident, a report of the accident was lodged against one Amit (Respondent No.2), the driver of the offending vehicle at Police Station, MIG Colony, Indore.

5. The claimant-appellant filed an application for compensation under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, seeking compensation to the tune of Rs.30,00,000/-plus cost and interest, submitting therein that he became permanently incapable of performing his duties as Area Sales Manager and Hotel Manager, as he was facing problem in daily tasks.

6. The Tribunal, by its order, held that the insurance company was liable to pay an amount of Rs.17,65,813/- along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of payment. The Tribunal considered the permanent disability suffered by the appellant to be 70% and took his salary to be Rs.17,500/- per month on the basis of the Income Tax Return for the assessment year 2011-12. A presumption was drawn by the Tribunal against Respondent No.2 to be driving rashly and negligently as the chargesheet stood filed and in terms of the exposition laid down in Ashok Bhamore vs. Rakesh and Ors. by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh.

7. Being aggrieved with the amount of compensation awarded, the claimant-appellant filed an appeal before the High Court on the ground that the Tribunal had not appropriately considered the permanent disability due to the injury suffered and future prospects were also not awarded as per the settled principle of law in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi , (2017) 16 SCC 680 . Additionally, the amounts awarded under the heads - special diet; attendant; and transportation, are on the lower side.

8. The High Court, vide its impugned order, enhanced the amount awarded to the claimant-appellant with an additional sum of Rs.4,87,750/- by granting 25% of the amount under the head future prospects and increasing the percentage of disability suffered to 54% based on the evidence on record.

9. As such, the compensation awarded by the High Court was as under:

CALCULATION OF COMPENSATION

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10. Yet dissatisfied, the claimant-appellant is now before us. The significant points of challenge taken are that the monthly income of Rs.17,500/- was wrongly assessed by the Tribunal as well as the High Court. The claimant submits that he earns a total of Rs.25,000/- per month; wherein, Rs.16,500/- as Area Sales Manager of Ishguru Hitech Natural Care Products and that Rs.7,500/- while working a