Proper assessment of income and disability is crucial for determining compensation in personal injury claims, entitling the Claimant to enhanced compensation based on established facts.

JUDGMENT :

B. MURALIDHARA PAI, J.

1. This is the appeal wherein the Claimant in MVC No.629/2014 on the file of learned Addl. Senior civil Judge and AMACT, Ranebennur has prayed for enhancement of the compensation.

2. The Claimant namely Sri M. Swamy has maintained the claim petition in MVC No.629/2014 praying for compensation for the injuries sustained by him in a road traffic accident occurred during the intervening night of 01.11.2013 and 02.11.2013, when he was travelling in a KSRTC bus bearing No.KA-17-F-1411 from Bengaluru to his native place. After contest, the tribunal allowed the claim petition in part and awarded compensation of Rs.14,37,000/- to the Claimant together with interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of petition till its realization.

3. The tribunal has held that the respondents i.e., the Depot Manager of the offending vehicle and the representative of their Self Insurance Fund are liable to pay the compensation as determined by it. The respondents have not challenged the impugned award.

4. The Claimant has maintained this appeal praying for enhancement of the compensation on the ground that the tribunal has not considered the evidence on record regarding his actual income at the time of the accident and did not appreciate the materials on record regarding his disability suffered on account of injuries sustained in the accident. As such he has contended that the compensation awarded by the tribunal is on the lower side and liable to be enhanced.

5. Per contra, learned Counsel for Respondents/KSRTC supported the findings recorded by the tribunal and submitted that the Tribunal has awarded just and reasonable compensation to the Claimant by taking into consideration all relevant aspects such as nature of injuries sustained by him, period of treatment, the disability on account of accidental injuries. As such, he contended that the Claimant has not made out any valid ground to interfere with impugned award.

6. Perusal of the impugned judgment and award goes to show that based on the materials placed before it, the tribunal has taken age of the Claimant as about 23 years as on the date of accident and applied multiplier of 18 for the purpose of determining loss of future income. The tribunal has taken note of the injuries sustained by the Claimant i.e., fracture of bony part of the external auditory canal on left side, pericranial soft tissue swelling noted in the left frontal convexity with air pockets in it and sclerosis of bilateral mastoid air calls s/o bilateral sclerosis mastoiditis as well as other simple injuries and his period of treatment as an inpatient from 04.11.2013 to 26.09.2014 with few days of intervals. Further, based on the evidence of PW-2 and the disability certificate issued by him, which is marked at Ex.P48, the tribunal took permanent physical disability in the Claimant to his whole body at 50% and accordingly awarded compensation of Rs.14,37,000/- to the Claimant under the following heads: