IMPORTANT POINT
Emotional and psychological dependency of legal heirs justifies compensation claims, even without financial dependence.

JUDGMENT :

This appeal has been filed by the claimants in OP(MV) No.108 of 2017 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kozhikode. The respondent herein was the third respondent before the tribunal.

2. The case of the appellants/claimants is that on 15.09.2016, while the deceased Kamalakshi was pillion riding in her son’s motorcycle bearing Reg.No.KL-57-M-8194 from Kakkur to Chelannur through Kozhikode- Balussery public road, a bus bearing Reg.No.KL-56-M-7127 driven by the second respondent, in a rash and negligent manner hit against the motorcycle ridden by her son, whereby Kamalakshi and her son sustained grievous injuries and succumbed to the injuries. The appellants, being the legal heirs of the deceased, approached the tribunal claiming a total compensation of Rs.8,00,000/-.

3. Respondents 1 and 2 remained ex parte before the tribunal. The respondent insurer filed a written statement, admitting the policy coverage for the offending vehicle, but disputing the liability and the quantum of compensation claimed. Before the tribunal, PW1 (wife of the rider of the motorcycle) was examined and Exts.A1 to A9 were marked on the side of the appellants/claimants. Ext.B1 was marked on the side of the respondents. The tribunal, after analysing the pleadings and materials on record, held that the accident took place on account of the negligence of the driver of the offending vehicle and awarded a sum of Rs.2,33,000/- as compensation under different heads against the third respondent being the insurer. Dissatisfied with the quantum of compensation awarded by the tribunal, the claimants have come up in appeal.

4. Heard the learned counsel for the appellants and the learned Standing Counsel for the respondent insurer.

5. The learned counsel for the appellants claims enhancement under the following heads:-

5.1 - Notional income - The learned counsel for the appellants submits that the deceased was aged 65 years and was a coolie at the time of accident and an amount of 10,000/- was claimed as her monthly income. But, the tribunal had not fixed any amount towards notional income. However, following the decision in Ramachandrappa v. Manager, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Ltd. [ (2011) 13 SCC 236 ], I find that the income of deceased Kamalakshi who was a coolie, can be fixed at Rs.10,500/- since the accident occured in 2016. Accordingly, following the judgment in Ramachandrappa (supra), I deem it appropriate to fix the notional monthly income of the deceased at Rs.10,500/-

5.2 - Loss of dependency - The tribunal found that since the petitioners are not dependents, they are not entitled to any compensation under the head ‘loss of dependency’. Here, it is a fact that the mother, who was aged 65 years, died in the accident and also the dependents who are the daughter, son and daughter-in-law (deceased son’s wife) are aged 37 years and 34 years and the two minor children of the deceased son are aged 13 years and 5 years. In United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Shalumol [ 2021 (5) KLT 74 ], wherein this Court held that even if dependency is a relevant criterion to claim compensation for loss of dependency, it does not mean financial dependency is the ‘ark of the covenant’. It was further held that dependency includes gratuitous service dependency, physical dependency, emotional dependency, psychological dependency, and so forth, which can never be equated in terms of money. The first appellant, married daughter is a dependent following the judgment in Shalumol (supra). The other legal heirs, namely son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, the legal heirs of the deceased son of Kamalakshi, also claim that they were also dependent on the mother for her services, care and support. Despite being only 65 years old, she was the pillar of the family. It may be true that financially, they were not dependent on the mother. But the dependency is not only financial, but also physical, emotional, and psychological. In National Insurance Company