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IN THE HIGH COURT OF RAJASTHAN
Arun Bhansali, J.
Smt. Nalini Parakh – Appellant
Versus
Raj Singh – Respondent
Civil Misc. Appeal Nos. 17, 76, 77 of 2002
Decided On : 24-10-2017
) income could not be deducted on account of such gratuitous assistance provided, if any, by the children – The Tribunal, it appears, was predisposed on account of the fact that it was required to assess the income of the deceaseds children as well and on that count, deducted the said amount from the income of the deceased – The approach of the Tribunal, in this regard, being wholly perverse cannot be sustained – In view of the fact that there are two claimants, the amount for personal expenses of the deceased has to be deducted at 1/3rd and therefore, the annual dependency would be Rs. 69,333/- looking to the age of the deceased i.e. 44 years, a multiplier of 14 in terms of the judgment in the case of Sarla Verma (supra) has to be applied – The Tribunal committed error in awarding meagre compensation of Rs. 10,000/- towards loss of consortium to the wife and Rs. 5,000/- towards loss of love and affection to the daughter – The said amount in terms of the judgment in the case of Rajesh (supra) for loss of consortium to the wife and loss of love and affection to the daughter deserves to be awarded at Rs. 1,00,000/- each – The amount awarded by the Tribunal towards funeral and transportation expenses at Rs. 5,000/- also deserves to be enhanced to Rs. 20,000/- – The rest of the amount of Rs. 10,000/- awarded by the Tribunal towards mental shock and suffering does not call for any interference – In view of the above, the claimants would be entitled to a compensation to Rs. 12,00,700/- – The appellants have questioned the validity of awards essentially for non-consideration of future prospects looking to the age of the children – The law on the said aspect is well settled that amount towards future prospects is to be awarded in case the deceased is in settled employment and is getting annual increment for his employment – However, neither any plea, in this regard, has been raised in the applications for compensation nor any material, in this regard, is available and, therefore, the Tribunal was justified in not awarding any amount towards future prospects in so far as deceased 2 and 3 are concerned – In view of the above discussions, all the three appeals are partly allowed – The awards are modified to the extent that in MAC Case 235, 236 and 237 the claimants would be entitled to a sum of Rs. 12,00,700/-, Rs. 4,25,000/- and Rs. 4,25,000/- respectively and the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 are held liable to make payment of compensation jointly and severally – The claimants would also be entitled to interest @ 7% per annum on the enhanced amount of compensation i.e. Rs. 7,20,700/-, Rs. 1,70,000/- and Rs. 1,70,000/- respectively from the date of filing of the applications to the date of payment – Appeals Partly Allowed
Arun Bhansali, J.
1. These appeals are directed against judgments and awards dated 29.09.2001 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Pali (‘the Tribunal’), whereby, the Tribunal has awarded a sum of Rs. 4,80,000/-, Rs. 2,55,000/- and Rs. 2,55,000/- respectively as compensation for the death of Mahendra Parakh, Ankur and Ankush Parakh husband/father, sons/brothers of the claimants.
2. Applications for compensation were filed by the claimants, inter-alia with the averments that Mahendra Parakh alongwith his sons Ankur and Ankush Parakh was travelling in Tata Sumo MH04-AA-112 on 25.01.1997; at about 11:00 PM, the offending vehicle a Tanker RRR-5655, being driven by Raj Singh rashly and negligently, collided with the said Tata Sumo, resulting in death of Mahendra Parakh, Ankur and Ankush Parakh alongwith its driver Ganesh. It was contended that deceased Mahendra Parakh was involved in business at Mumbai and both the sons, besides studying, were helping their father and based on the said averments compensation to the tune of Rs. 45,69,000/- for death of Mahendra Parakh, Rs. 32,53,000/- for death of Ankush Parakh and Rs. 32,05,000/- for death of Ankur Parakh was claimed.
The applications were contested by the respondents.
3. The Tribunal framed seven issues. On behalf of claimants-Smt. Nalini Parakh was examined and 24 documents were exhibited. On behalf of Insurance Company one Nand Kishore Rathi was examined.
4. After hearing the parties, the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the accident occurred on account of rash and negligent driving by driver of the Tanker. While assessing the quantum of compensation, the Tribunal came to the conclusion that from the Income Tax Returns for the period 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 (Exhibits-20, 21 and 22) the gross income of deceased Mahendra Parakh was Rs. 64,170/-, Rs. 66,430/- and Rs. 85,030/- respectively. Looking to the rising trend, the income was assessed at Rs. 1,00,000/- per year. The Tribunal thereafter in view of the stand taken by the claimants that on account of Ankur and Ankush Parakh helping their father in business and the father used to save Rs. 2,000/- qua each child, deducted a sum of Rs. 50,000/- on account of such assistance granted by the children and thereafter further deducted Rs. 20,000/- towards personal expenses and assessed the income of deceased Mahendra Parakh at Rs. 30,000/- per year and taking the age of the deceased at 40 years, applied multiplier of 15 and awarded a sum of Rs. 4,50,000/- towards loss of income. The Tribunal further awarded Rs. 10,000/- towards loss of consortium to the wife, Rs. 5,000/- towards loss of love and affection to the daughter, Rs. 5,000/- each was awarded towards mental shock and suffering, Rs. 5,000/- towards funeral and transportation expenses were awarded and in all a sum of Rs. 4,80,000/- was awarded.
5. For the death of Ankur and Ankush Parakh, the Tribunal while assessing income of both the sons at Rs. 25,000/- per annum deducted Rs. 10,000/- towards personal expenses and assessed the income at Rs. 15,000/- per annum and awarded a sum of Rs. 2,25,000/- each towards loss of love, affection and care to mother and Rs. 5,000/- towards loss of love and affection to the sister. Another sum of Rs. 10,000/- was awarded towards mental shock, Rs. 5,000/- towards funeral and transportation expenses and in all a sum of Rs. 2,55,000/- towards death of Ankur and Ankush Parakh was awarded. Further, it was directed that interest @ 9% per annum from the date of all the three applications i.e. 30.03.1998 be awarded.
6. It is submitted by learned counsel for the appellants that the Tribunal committed error in awarding meager compensation to the claimants. It was submitted that there was no justification in deducting a sum of Rs. 50,000/- from the income of Mahendra Parakh on account of his children assisting him in business. Further submissions have been made that the Tribunal has assessed the income at Rs. 85,000/- and have only awarded
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